Amore ed avversione
by BohemianGirl06
Summary: Ok the title means Love and Hate in Italian. Post Rent. Roger meets a single mother and is attraced to her. But she's been hurt before and is hesitant. Yes it is an OC story. It's something different. Mimi, Mark, Maureen, Joane, and Collins are all here
1. First Impressions

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. All characters that you recognize belong to Jonathon Larson and all characters you don't recognize belong to me.

Roger hurried down the street trying to dodge the crowds of people. He told Collins that he would be at his office at 12:30 to catch up. Collins had just got back to NYU after and extended break. Roger looked down at his watch; it was 12:55. He started to walk faster. He looked down at the folder in his hands, he'd just come from band practice. He'd written a bunch of new songs that he was actually proud of. Since he was looking down he didn't noticed the person in front of him stop until he crashed into them.

"Son of a bitch." He cursed as he fell to the ground. The folder he was holding was now on the ground with it's contents all over.

"Figlio di una femmina." A woman said as she reached out to pick up her papers. "Ever watch where you going?"

"Fuck off." He grumbled as he picked up the papers.

"Watch where you're going next time jackass." She said getting up and grabbing the papers that she had been holding. "Scatto." She muttered as she walked away. Roger picked up the rest of his papers and continued to Collins office.

Roger walked into Collins office to find him sitting at his desk with his feet up reading a book.

"Sorry I'm late. Band practice ran late and then this girl bumped into me." Roger said sitting down in the chair in front of the desk.

"Oh really?" Collins said putting the book down and raising his eyebrows. "Tell me about this girl."

"Nothing to tell." Roger said. "I accidentally bumped into her and she started acting like a fucking bitch."

"Was she pretty?" Collins asked.

"I don't know I wasn't looking." Roger said.

"Oh." Collins said. "So what's been going on? Sorry we haven't talked much since I've been back."

"It's cool. You've been busy." Roger said. "I got a new band together. It's going good. I'm still at the bar."

"Have you talked to Mimi lately?" Collins asked.

"She called last week. She's in Cleveland." Roger said laughing.

"Why the hell would she go there?" Collins asked laughing.

"Something about her dad being a browns fan." Roger said. "She hasn't decided where she's going next."

"I'm glad she's doing good." Collins said with a smile. "So you two are really over?"

"Yeah." Roger said looking at the ground. "We were great for each other at the time, but now, we're just friends."

"You dating anyone else?" Collins asked.

"No. I'm taking a break from that." Roger said. "Focus on my friends and music." There was a knock on the door and a woman with dark brown hair walked in.

"Buon pomeriggio, Collins." She said smiling as she walked into his office. Her smile faded when she looked at Roger.

"You." She said disgustedly.

"You two know each other?" Collins asked amused.

"Yeah this is the bitch I was telling you about earlier." Roger said glaring at her.

"Voi figlio di una femmina?" She yelled in Italian. "Vostro quello che lo ha battuto giù. Asshole"

"Izzy calm down." Collins said laughing. "He doesn't speak Italian."

"He's the one the bumped into me." Izzy said glaring at Roger.

"Whatever." Roger muttered.

"Ok, kiddies back to you corners." Collins said laughing. "Did you need something, Izzy?"

"Yeah. I was wondering if you had anything on Puccini?" Izzy asked sending another glare towards Roger.

"I don't think so. I'll look around and get back to you." Collins said. "Why do you need it?"

"Because I want to cover Puccini in great Italian writers but I don't know that much about him." Izzy said.

"Giacomo Puccini was born on December 22, 1858, in Lucca, Italy. He studied at a musical conservatory in Milan from 1880 until 1883. He is probably best known for La Boheme, Manon Lescaut, and Turandot. Turandot was unfinished at the time of his death in 1924 but was later completed and opened in 1926." Roger said with a smug grin as Izzy and Collins jaws dropped.

"How the hell do you know about Pucinni?" Izzy asked stunned.

"I did a project on him when I was in school. He's actually one of my favorite composers." Roger said grinning. The look on her face was priceless. "Let me guess you thought I was this rocker, metal head? Didn't think I'm the type to like opera?"

"Wiseass." She said before turning to Collins. "I'll talk to you later." And with that she turned and left. When Roger turned and looked at Collins, he was smiling.

"Why are you so happy that I just got into a fight with one of your students?" Roger asked.

"First off she's not my student. She teaches Italian and history here." Collins said smirking. "And I'm smiling because you like her."

"Get you eyes examined." Roger said rolling his eyes.

"You don't find her the least bit attractive?" Collins asked.

"Yeah she's pretty, but then she opened her mouth and I wanted to make myself deaf." Roger said dryly.

"I seem to recall that every one of your serious relationships started with you fighting with them." Collins said laughing.

"They did not." Roger said.

"Mimi, April, Tessa, Barb, and Michelle." Collins said laughing counting off his fingers. "You forget that I've known you for years. You said the same thing about all of them."

"Whatever." Roger said getting up. "Are we going to lunch or what?"

"After you." Collins said pointing to the door.

* * *

"Ciò sta andando essere hell." Izzy said putting her head down on the desk.

"I'm sure you'll do fine." Collins said laughing in the doorway.

"Oh hey Collins." Izzy said looking up. "You leaving?"

"Yeah. It's almost six you should do the same." Collins said still standing in the doorway.

"I'm just trying to get my lesson plan together." Izzy said as she packed up her things. "I'm really nervous."

"It's normal." Collins said. "It's your first week. I'm sure that you'll do great."

"Thanks." She said putting on her jacket. "So how do you know that jackass?"

"I take it your talking about Roger?" Collins asked laughing.

"Is that his name?" Izzy asked as they walked out of the building.

"Roger Davis. I've known him for years." Collins said.

"He's a puntura." She said shaking his head.

"My Italian is a little rusty. But I'm pretty sure you just called him a prick." Collins said laughing. Izzy just smiled. "He's a really good guy. You just have to get to know him."

"I think I'll pass." Izzy said.

"He could probably help you with your lesson plan. He did seem to know an awful lot about Puccini." Collins said as they reached her apartment.

"I'd rather chew on glass." She said dryly.

"You really don't like him, do you?" Collins asked laughing.

"Something about him just rubs me the wrong way." She said pulling out her keys.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow." Collins said.

"Ok. Bye." She said waving to him as she entered the building.

A/N: Ok so I know I still have How did we get here and Time Flies to finish but I've hit a block in How Did We Get Here and I can't get too far ahead in Time Flies. I promise that I will finish How Did We Get Here some time in the near future. Well I hope you liked this story. It's just a little idea I had. Thanks to Renthead621 for helping me with this story. Remember that I love reviews! Oh and Izzy is speaking in Italian so here are the translations according to Babelfish:

Figlio di una femmina- Son of a bitch

Scatto- Jerk

Buon pomeriggio- Good Afternoon

Voi figlio di una femmina- You son of a bitch

Vostro quello che lo ha battuto giù-You're the one that knocked me down

Ciò sta andando essere hell- This is going to be hell

Puntura- Prick

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	2. The Life Cafe

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. All charaters that you recognize belong to Jonathon Larson and all characters that you don't recognize belong to me.

"Hey mom I'm home." Izzy said as she walked into her apartment.

"Izzy you said that you'd be home no later than five." A short woman in her fifties said coming out of the kitchen. She had the same dark hair as Izzy.

"I know. I'm sorry, I got caught up making my lesson plan." Izzy said as she set down her bag.

"I know that your job is important to you Isabella, but you have to make sure that those little girls are the number one things in your life. Everything else has to come second to them." She said hugging her daughter.

"They are mom." Izzy said holding back her tears. "I'll make sure that I'm not late again."

"It's ok. I know the last year and a half hasn't been the easiest for you." She said softly. "Do you want me to stay with you for a little bit?"

"No that's fine." She said wiping away her tears. "I'm going to check in on them and then go to bed."

"Ok." Her mother said kissing the top of her head. "You're bringing them to my house tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah." Izzy said.

"Ok. I'll get going then." Her mother said hugging her one last time. "Remember that your father and I are so proud of you and we love you." Izzy just nodded. Her mother grabbed her coat and purse and left. She quietly walked to one of the rooms, the ballerina night lamp was on. She went over to the small toddler bed on the one side of the room and knelt down. She gently brushed the dark brown hair out of the little girls face and kissed her forehead. She couldn't believe that her little girl was almost four. Her little Toni. She looked just like her. They had the same dark brown hair, brown eyes, and dark olive complexion. She had also inherited her mothers temper. Izzy smiled down and kissed her forehead one last time before getting up. Izzy got up and walked over to the crib on the other side of the room. She pulled the pink blanket over the little girl lying in the crib. Her little Lucia. She was a shade lighter than her and Toni. And her hair was a light shade of brown like her fathers. Izzy frowned at the thought of him. When he found out that she was pregnant with Lucia he decided that he was too young to be tied down with a family and left. It nearly killed her at first. She wouldn't have made it with out her family. Especially her mother, she watched the kids while she finished school and helped out as much as she could. She kissed her fingers and lightly touched Lucia's forehead.

* * *

Izzy woke up and heard Lucia crying. She hurried out of bed and went into the girls room.

"It's ok baby, mommy's right here." She said as she picked up Lucia.

"Mommy I'm hungry." Toni said looking up at Izzy.

"Ok baby. Give me a minute to get Lucia ready and we'll go out for breakfast, ok?" Izzy said looking down at her daughter. Fifteen minutes later all three of them were ready and on their way out the door. Ten minutes later they were seated in the Life Café.

"Antonia Michaela, eat your eggs." Izzy said as she watched her daughter.

"I don't wanna." Toni pouted. Izzy was about to respond when she heard a familiar voice.

"Mimi will you stop trying to find me a girlfriend?" Roger asked as they walked into the café. "It's weird."

"Well you need some lovin too." The woman with him said. Roger happened to look over and saw Izzy sitting there.

"Izzy?" He said with a puzzled look as he looked at her and the kids.

"Hi Roger." Izzy said feeling uncomfortable.

"Um about yesterday." Roger started before Izzy cut him off.

"Listen it's fine. We all have our days." Izzy said.

"Mommy who's this?" Toni asked.

"Um this is mommy's friend Roger and" Izzy realized she didn't know the girl he was with.

"I'm Mimi." Mimi said holding out her hand.

"Nice to meet you Mimi." Izzy said holding out her hand. "I'm Izzy."

"Are you going to eat with us?" Toni asked. Before either Izzy or Roger could respond Mimi answered.

"We'd love to." Mimi said sitting down next to Izzy. "You don't mind do you?"

"Of course not." Izzy said as Roger sat next to Toni.

"Hi I'm Toni." The little girl smiling brightly.

"Hi Toni, I'm Mimi." Mimi said smiling.

"Are you two dating?" Toni asked causing Mimi to burst out laughing.

"Oh god no." Mimi said laughing hysterically.

"Thanks a lot Meems." Roger said rolling his eyes. "You know that we did date at one point."

"I know." Mimi said laughing. "But thinking about us dating now is funny."

"You two dated?" Izzy asked.

"For a while. Helped each other through some stuff then realize that we worked better as friends." Mimi said smiling. "So tell me about yourself Izzy. How do you know Roger?"

"Well we kind of bumped into each other and then I saw him again at Collins' office." Izzy said as she gave Lucia her sippy cup.

"Let me guess, he was an ass?" Mimi asked laughing.

"Hey!" Roger exclaimed causing both Mimi and Izzy to laugh.

"Just a bit." Izzy said finally feeling a little bit more comfortable.

"I don't think we've been introduced to this little one yet." Mimi said making faces at Lucia.

"Oh sorry. Well you already met my daughter Toni, this is my youngest Lucia." Izzy said.

"Wow how do you go to school and have two kids?" Mimi asked amazed.

"Well I'm not in school anymore. I just started teaching at NYU." Izzy said.

"Your teaching?" Mimi asked shocked. "Wow. You don't look old enough for that."

"Well I'm twenty nine." Izzy said. "And I graduated high school a year early."

"So what do you teach?" Mimi asked.

"Italian and history." Izzy said.

"That's really cool." Mimi said. The waiter came over with Roger and Mimi's drinks and took their food orders.

"Mommy can I have some cake?" Toni asked.

"Only if you finish your breakfast." Izzy said in a motherly tone.

"But mommy" Toni says as she sticks out her lower lip.

"Finish your breakfast and then we'll see." Izzy says. "I think someone needs a diaper change, can you watch Toni for a minute?"

"No problem." Mimi said as she got up to let Izzy and Lucia up. When Izzy returned Toni was sitting there eating a piece of chocolate cake.

"Where did you get that?" She asked as she sat back down.

"Roger!" Toni said smiling.

"She did the thing with the lip." Roger lamely.

"Antonia Michaela you are in trouble." Izzy said trying not to smile.

"We should be heading back to the loft." Mimi said. "Everyone should be there soon. Let the festivities begin"

"Ok." Roger said pulling out his wallet to pay for their food.

"Izzy would you guys like to join us?" Mimi asked.

"I don't want to impose." Izzy said starting to get the girls ready.

"It's not imposing if you're invited." Mimi said smiling at her.

"I guess we could come for a little bit." Izzy said as she zipped up Lucia's coat.

"Mommy I'm tired." Toni said pouting. "Carry me."

"Baby I can't." Izzy said with Lucia in her arms.

"But mommy." Toni said sticking out her bottom lip at Roger. "Will you carry me?" Roger bent down and picked her up.

"Roger you don't have to carry her." Izzy said as they walked out the door.

"It's fine." Roger said as they walked towards the loft.

"So what are you guys celebrating?" Izzy asked.

"My glorious return!" Mimi said laughing.

"Where were you?" Izzy asked.

"Cleveland." Roger said laughing.

"Hey, nothing is wrong with Cleveland." Mimi said. "I had a lot of fun there."

"It can be a really fun place." Izzy said. "I went to OSU and we went up to Cleveland a lot."

"I still don't see how it could be better then the city." Roger said shaking his head as they walked into the loft.

"Izzy?" Collins asked surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Um I ran into Roger and Mimi and they invited us to tag along." Izzy said setting Lucia down on the couch.

"Is this the infamous Toni and Lucia?" Collins said smiling at the little girls.

"Yes." Izzy said smiling as Roger sat down on the couch with Toni.

"I think someone's a little tired." Roger whispered looking down at Toni who was practically asleep in his arms.

"Maybe we should have gone home." Izzy said.

"No it's fine." Mimi said. "We can lay the girls down in Mark's room."

"Ok." Izzy said as she picked up Lucia and Roger picked up Toni. Izzy followed Roger into Mark's room.

"They look just like you." Roger said as the laid the girls down.

"Toni looks like me. Lucia looks just like her father." Izzy said kissing each girl on her forehead.

"No I can defiantly see you in both of them." Roger said smiling.

"Thanks." Izzy said smiling back as they walked back into the living room.

"Izzy you grew up in Italy?" Mimi asked as her and Roger came back into the living room.

"We spent summers there." Izzy said. "My parents were born and raised there, so we went there a lot to see family."

"That's so cool." Mimi said. "So have the girls been there?"

"Not yet. I was in school when I was pregnant with them so I really couldn't." Izzy said. "But we might go in the summer because my brother is getting married there."

"How many siblings do you have?" Roger asked.

"Five brothers and four sisters." Izzy said.

"Ten kids?" Mimi asked amazed.

"What can I say? We're catholic." Izzy said laughing. The door slid open and Maureen came rushing towards Mimi.

"Mimi!" She yelled as she pulled her into a hug. "I've missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Mo." Mimi said laughing. Toni started crying and Izzy dashed into the room.

"Who's that?" Maureen asked as Roger got up and followed her.

"A friend of Roger's and Collins." Mimi said.

"Actually yesterday they hated each other." Collins said smiling.

"Oh really?" Mimi said looking at Collins and smiling.

* * *

"Is she ok?" Roger asked as he came into the bedroom.

"Yeah just a bad dream." Izzy said as she held Toni. "Do you want to come in the living room with us?" Toni nodded.

"Carry me?" She said looking at Roger and sticking out her bottom lip.

"Sure." He said smiling and picking her up.

"You know now that she knows that will work ever time she's going to use it." Izzy said laughing.

"I don't care." Roger said smiling as he carried Toni out into the living room.

"And who is this?" Maureen asked.

"Mo this is my friend Izzy." Collins said. "That's her daughter Toni."

"Aren't you a cutie?" Maureen said smiling at Toni.

"Yes I am." Toni said smiling as she sat on Roger's lap.

"Toni!" Izzy said laughing.

"Can't blame the girl for knowing that she's a cutie." Maureen said laughing. About an hour later Izzy decide that she should be heading out.

"I should really get the girls home." Izzy said standing up.

"Do you have to?" Mimi asked holding Lucia.

"Yeah. We're going over to my parents house later on and I need to take them home to get ready." Izzy said smiling as Mimi handed her Lucia.

"Ok. But you should come hang out with us again." Mimi said smiling.

"I will. I promise." Izzy said smiling. "Collins has my number"

"I think we have a problem." Roger said pointing to Toni who was fast asleep in his arms.

"We have to wake her up." Izzy said still holding Lucia.

"I don't want to have to wake her up. I'll walk you guys home." Roger said standing up.

"You don't have to." Izzy said.

"I'm offering, ok. Just deal with it." Roger said.

"Fine." Izzy huffed as they walked out of the apartment. They walked in silence most of the way to her apartment.

"Listen if you need my help on that Puccini thing I'll help." He said as she let them into her apartment.

"Thanks." She said as he followed her into the girls room. Roger gently put Toni down her bed.

"So I can come over tomorrow if you want." Roger said shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Sure." Izzy said. "If you don't have plans."

"Nope. I'll be here around 6?" Roger asked.

"Yeah that's fine." Izzy said. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Bye." He said waving a bit and walking out the door.

A/N: Well that's chapter two. Tell me what you guys think. Don't worry I will be updating How Did We Get Here and Time Flies. Just needed to take a little break from those. Thanks to Renthead621 for reviewing. You are great. And thanks for all your help on this story. Remember to review. I love hearing what people think.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	3. Running

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. Any characters that you recognize belong to Jonathon Larson and all those you don't belong to me.

Izzy was sitting on the couch reading a book when she heard a knock on the door. She set the book down and got up to answer it.

"Hey Roger." She said opening the door.

"Hi." He said smiling.

"Come on in." She said moving aside. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"Um sure. What do you have?" He asked sitting on the couch.

"Water, pop, juice, and I think I have a few beers." She said looking in the fridge.

"A beer please." He said. Noticed a photo album open on the coffee table so he picked it up. "Is that you?" He asked pointing to a picture of a young girl in a vineyard.

"Yeah. I was about twelve. My grandparents own a vineyard in Italy." She said smiling as she handed him the beer.

"Do you mind?" He asked pointing to the photo album.

"No." She said as he flipped the page. "That's the day Toni was born." She said smiling at the picture of her and Toni.

"Is that?" He asked pointing to the guy in the picture.

"Yeah. That's Frank." She said frowning slightly.

"What happened?" Roger asked. "If you don't want to talk about it I understand."

"It's fine." Izzy said taking a breath. "We met in college and pretty much dated the entire time. Then we graduated and moved back here so I could go to graduate school. And he was going into law school." Izzy said as she paused. "I was twenty four when I got pregnant with Toni. He wasn't happy but he stuck by me. We started to have a lot of problems and when I got pregnant with Lucia he left. Said that he had goals and a family wasn't part of it." She said as a few tears escaped her eyes. Roger wrapped his arm around her.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly.

"It's not your fault." Izzy said. "He made his decision. I don't care if I never see him again."

"I hope you never have to see him again." Roger said getting angry. "He doesn't deserve to know those little girls."

"He's never even met Lucia." Izzy said wiping her eyes. "He didn't even want to see her when he signed the papers."

"What papers." Roger asked.

"He signed all of his rights to the girls away." Izzy said breaking down. "It was his idea."

"He's a bastard. You guys are better off with out them." He said hugging her as she started to cry harder.

"Toni keeps asking about him and I don't know what to tell her." She said crying. "How can I tell her that her dad wanted nothing to do with us?"

"You tell her that she has a mother that loves her and would do anything for her." Roger said pulling her closer. When he pulled away and looked at her he couldn't help but think of how beautiful she looked even with all the tears streaming down her face. He gently placed his hands on both sides of her face and leaned in. One of his hands wrapped around her waist while the other one stayed planted on her face. After a few moments he finally pulled away. Before Izzy had a chance to say anything Roger spoke.

"I'm so sorry." He said standing up. "I should leave." He said as he practically ran out of the house.

* * *

Roger was parcticly running up the stairs when he tripped and fell right outside of Mimi's door.

"Fuck." He groaned as he got up again.

"Roger?" Mimi asked as she opened her door. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah. Just tripped is all." Roger said as he started to walk away.

"Wait aren't you supposed to be at Izzy's right now?" Mimi asked.

"I don't want to talk about it right now." Roger said.

"Roger Davis get your ass in her right now and tell me what happened." Mimi said with her hands on her hips. Roger sighed and walked into the apartment. "Well?" She said as they sat down on the couch.

"Ok so I went over there and she had this photo album out. And we started looking at them and then she told me what happened to Toni and Lucia's dad." Roger said.

"What happened?" Mimi asked. She'd been wondering about that.

"Fucking prick left her when she got pregnant with Lucia. Said that kids wasn't what he wanted." Roger said getting angry.

"Bastard." Mimi said disgustedly. "Well? What happened next?"

"She started crying because she didn't know how to explain it to the girls and then I hugged her and told her it was ok and…" he trailed off.

"And?" Mimi asked.

"I kissed her." Roger mumbled into his hands.

"Speak up. It sounded like you said you kissed her." Mimi said.

"I did." Roger said looking at Mimi.

"Oh my god!" Mimi said excitedly. "What happened?"

"I pulled away, said I was sorry, and ran out of there." Roger said. Mimi glared at him and smacked his head. "Ow! What the fuck?"

"You are such an idiot Roger!" Mimi yelled. "I can't believe you!"

"I got scared." Roger said standing up.

"So fucking what?" Mimi shouted as she stood up. "Just because you get scared doesn't mean that you always have to run!"

"Look who's fucking talking." He shouted. "What do you call going to Cleveland?"

"I needed a break. I didn't have a problem that I was running away from. I was clean and I wanted to fucking get out of this city before it was too late." Mimi screamed. Roger felt like he'd been punched. "You don't think she was the least bit scared?"

"What would happen if something did happen?" Roger asked. "She's already been through so much. I don't want her to be hurt again."

"How would you do that?" Mimi asked.

"Meems we both know I'm not gonna be around forever." Roger said looking at the floor.

"No one will." Mimi said.

"But I got less time than most." Roger said.

"So do I Roger. But I'm not going to let this disease stop me from finding love and living a happy life." Mimi said.

"But there are kids involved too." Roger said.

"You don't want to be with her because she has kids?" Mimi asked.

"No." Roger said. "But let's say that something happens between us and then the kids get attached. What's going to happen when I die?"

"You can't think like that Roger." Mimi said. "Don't you think those kids deserve a chance to have someone love them? Even if it's for a short time?"

"I don't know Meems." Roger said.

"Go back there and talk to her." Mimi said.

"Ok." Roger said hugging her. "Thanks for the talk. You the best."

"I know." Mimi said smiling as she pulled away.

"And so modest." Roger said laughing as he walked towards the door.

* * *

Roger stood outside Izzy's door waiting for her to answer. After what seemed like an eternity she finally answered the door. She was standing there holding Toni.

"Roger!" The little girl yelled as she practicly threw herself into his arms.

"Hey." He said smiling as she hugged him.

"Are you going to play with me?" Toni asked. Roger looked over at Izzy but she quickly diverted her eyes away.

"Toni it's time for bed." Izzy said.

"But mommy!" Toni pouted sticking out her lower lip.

"I need to talk to you mom." Roger said. "I promise that I'll come over tomorrow and play with you."

"Swear?" She asked pouting.

"I swear." He said as he handed her back to Izzy.

"I need to go put her to bed." She said turning around. Roger came in and shut the door. He didn't move from the door until she came back out. She came back out a few minutes later. "You shouldn't make promises that you can't keep."

"I plan on keeping that promise." Roger said.

"What are you doing here?" Izzy asked.

"We need to talk about earlier." Roger said walking towards her.

"What happened earlier was a mistake that won't be happening again." Izzy said as she folded her arms over her chest.

"You didn't feel anything?" He asked.

"That doesn't matter Roger." Izzy said looking at the floor. "Why would you even want to be with me and all my baggage?"

"Believe me I've got my baggage too." Roger said.

"Roger I have my girls to think about." Izzy said still not looking at him.

"This isn't about them and you know it." Roger said taking a step closer. "You're scared of being hurt again."

"Roger please just leave." Izzy said.

"I won't give up without a fight." Roger said. "And I don't make promises that I don't intend to keep." And with that he walked out the door. Izzy went to the door and rested her head against it. She knew she'd be lying if she said she didn't have any feelings for Roger. But she would protect herself and her daughters at all cost.

* * *

Roger stared at Izzy's door for who knows how long. He knew that she would be hesitant. He could really blame her, she had her heart broke and now she was raising two little girls by herself. But he knew that he had to try. And with that thought he began to walk back to the loft.

A/N: Thanks to Renthead621 for reviewing! You rock. I'm going to try to get the next chapter out tomorrow. But no promises. Remember to review, it really does make me get these out faster.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	4. Living On A Prayer

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. All characters that you recognize belong to Jonathon Larson and all those you don't recognize belong to me.

"Izzy?" Collins said knocking on the door.

"Oh hey Collins." Izzy said putting things in her brief case.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked.

"Can we walk and talk?" Izzy asked putting on her coat.

"Sure." He said following her out as she locked the door. "I wanted to talk to you about Roger."

"Did he send you over here to plead his case?" Izzy asked slightly annoyed.

"No. He doesn't even no I'm talking to you." Collins said. "He just wants a chance, Iz."

"I have my girls to think about." Izzy said as they continued walking.

"Toni adores him after meeting him twice." Collins said.

"I know." Izzy said looking down. "But I don't want my girls to get attached to him and then have him walk out on them."

"He would never do that." Collins said. "His dad walked out on his family when he was younger, he would never do that to you."

"It's not a good idea for us to be anything more than friends." Izzy said.

"Why?" Collins asked.

"Because I don't want to risk hurting my girls. And it's not fair to Roger, he shouldn't have to deal with my mess of a life." Izzy said looking up at him.

"Listen Roger isn't one to talk about messed up lives." Collins said choosing his words carefully. He knew that Roger hadn't told he about is HIV yet, and he knew that he needed to be the one to tell her. "And if he chooses to be with you, your baggage and all, then that's his decision."

"We barely know each other." Izzy said. "Why is he pushing so hard?"

"Because he feels something for you and he wants to get to know you better." Collins said. "At least give him a chance."

"I'll think about it Collins." Izzy said as they stopped at her apartment building.

"Would one date be that bad?" Collins asked as he watched her pull out her keys.

"It's complicated." Izzy said opening the door.

"Life's complicated Izzy." Collins said. "Just think about what I said."

"I will." Izzy said. "Bye. I'll see you Monday."

"See you then." He said as he left. Izzy walked up the stairs to her apartment. Her mother was going to drop the kids off later on that night. Izzy took off her coat and sat on the couch. She sighed and reached over and picked up the phone to call Roger. She got the answering machine but decided that she didn't want to leave a message on the machine. She got up and decided to take a walk. Before she knew it she found herself at the loft. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

"Hey Izzy." Roger said standing there with his guitar in his hand.

"Hey." She said softly. "Um do you think we could talk?"

"Yeah sure come on in." Roger said moving aside. "Make yourself at home." He said setting the guitar down on the table. Izzy sat down on the couch and Roger sat down next to her.

"Listen about the other day. I'm really sorry." Izzy said looking up at him. "It's just hat I haven't dated since Frank left and I guess I have a few issues when it comes to relationships now."

"I understand." Roger said softly. "I know what it's like to be scared to get into a relationship again. But all I'm asking for is a chance. One date and we'll see how it goes from there. How does that sound?"

"I think that sounds great." She said smiling.

"But I need to tell you something first." Roger said. He knew it'd be better to tell her sooner rather than later about his HIV.

"What is it?" She asked.

"When I first came here I was really young and really stupid." Roger started. "I was in this band and it was doing really good, I thought I was this rock god or something." Roger said, he paused and looked up at Izzy. "I got into drugs really bad."

"What happened?" Izzy asked taking his hand in hers.

"I was dating this girl, April, at the time and one day me and Mark came home and she had…um…she killed herself." Roger finished barely above a whisper. Izzy gently squeezed his hand. "I'm HIV positive."

"I'm so sorry Roger." Izzy said pulling him into a hug.

"If that scares you, I understand." Roger said pulling away from her. "If you want to forget the date and just be friends or something."

"Roger why would I do that?" Izzy asked.

"Because one day I'm" Before he could finish Izzy cut him off by placing her hand over his mouth.

"Do you take you meds?" She asked. Roger nodded. "Are you planning to stop taking you medication?" Again he shook his head. "Roger I know that HIV isn't a death sentence. People are living longer and longer and they are coming out with new medications everyday."

"I know." He said looking at her. "It's just hard telling people that."

"I know." She said. "You think it's any easier to tell people that I'm a single mother?"

"I guess we can relate." Roger said smiling. "So um what are you doing tomorrow?"

"I don't know. What are you doing?" She said smiling at him.

"Taking you out." He said smiling.

"I think I'd like that." She said. Roger leaned in and gently kissed her. Izzy wrapped her arms around him as he pulled her into his lap. "Roger." She said as she pulled away.

"Yeah?" He said as he kissed her again. He pulled away and started kissing her neck.

"We said we'd go slow." She said closing her eyes.

"I know." He whispered.

"This isn't slow." She whispered. Roger kissed her once more on the lips before pulling back.

"Sorry." He whispered.

"It's ok. I just don't want to rush things." She said.

"It's ok. I understand." He said smiling. Izzy looked at the clock and saw that it was almost six.

"I should get going." She said. "My mom's dropping the girls off at seven."

"Can I walk you home?" Roger asked.

"Sure." Izzy said smiling as she got up. Roger got up and grabbed his jacket before they walked out of the apartment.

* * *

Roger and Izzy walked hand in hand back to her apartment. When they were got there they saw her mother waiting there.

"Isabella." Her mother said smiling holding Lucia in her one arm while holding Toni's hand with the other.

"Hi mom." Izzy said taking Lucia and hugging her mother.

"Roger!" Toni said running up to him and wrapping her little arms around his leg. "Are you here to play with me?"

"I don't see why not." He said picking her up. "If it's ok with your mom."

"Is it mommy?" She said sticking out her lip.

"Toni the only one that works on is Roger." Izzy said laughing. "Oh mom this is my friend Roger, Roger this is my mother Michaela Boscerelli."

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Boscerelli." Roger said coming forward to shake her hand.

"Nice to meet you too." She said smiling.

"Are you going to come up?" Izzy asked.

"No. Your father and I are going over the McNulty's tonight." Mrs. Boscerelli said hugging her goodbye. "I'll see you Sunday for diner, right?"

"Yeah." Izzy said.

"Ok. I love you." She said smiling. "I love you girls." She said hugging both the girls. "It was nice meeting you Roger."

"Nice meeting you too." Roger said as Mrs. Boscerelli left. He followed Izzy up to her apartment with Toni still in his arms.

"Did you eat at Nanna's?" Izzy asked.

"No." Toni said still in Roger's arms.

"How about we order pizza?" Izzy asked.

"Yay!" Toni shouted. "I love pizza."

"I know you do." Izzy said smiling. "Why don't you go in your room and change and then go wash your hands."

"Ok." Toni said Roger set her down. Roger walked over to where Izzy was trying to balance the phone while holding Lucia and flipping through the phone book.

"Let me take her." Roger said smiling. Izzy mouthed thank you to him as she place the order.

"Roger can you play with me now?" Toni asked running back into the living room.

"How about we wait till after dinner?" Roger asked sitting down on the couch with Lucia. Izzy came over and sat on the couch with Roger and the girls.

"So what did you do at Nanna's today?" Izzy asked pulling the little girl on to her lap.

"Aunt Mickey and her boyfriend came over. And Uncle Leo said he was a puntura." Toni told her mother.

"Antonia Michaela don't say that." Izzy said.

"What's puntura mean?" Roger asked confused.

"It's a bad word in Italian that uncle Leo should not use around little girls." Izzy said.

"Oh ok." Roger said laughing as the buzzer rang. Roger handed Lucia to Izzy and got up to get the door.

"What are you doing?" Izzy asked.

"Dinners on me tonight." Roger said pulling out his wallet.

"You don't have to do that." Izzy said.

"I want to." He said opening the door and paying for the pizza. After dinner Izzy put Lucia to bed but let Toni stay up for a little while. An hour later it was time for Toni to go to bed.

"Toni baby it's time for bed." Izzy said.

"Roger can you tell me a bedtime story?" Toni asked looking up at him.

"Um sure." Roger said trying to think of one. Finally he thought of something, it wasn't a bedtime story but she wouldn't know the difference. "Once upon a time not so long ago. Tommy used to work at the docks. The union went on strike and he was down on his luck. It's tough. So tough" Izzy burst out laughing.

"Bon Jovi?" Izzy said barely able to breath.

"I'm trying to tell a story." Roger said trying not to laugh. "Gina worked the diner all day. Working for her man, she bring home her pay for love. She says we gotta hold on to what we got. It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not. We got each other and that's a lot for love. We'll give it a shot." he said as he heard Izzy giggling in the background.

"Mommy, Roger is telling a story. Be quiet." Toni said seriously putting her fingers over her lips.

"Oh sorry baby. Go ahead Roger. What happened next?" she asked barely able to keep a straight face.

"OK, before I was so rudely interrupted." he said looking up at Izzy and then back at Toni so he could continue his story. By the time he finished Toni was passed out in his arms. Roger got up and put her in her bed. When he came out Izzy was smiling at him.

"What?" he asked sitting back down next to her.

"Bon Jovi?" She asked smiling as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"What? They are a classic band." Roger said laughing.

"I love Bon Jovi. I just can't believe that you used Livin on a Prayer as a bedtime story." Izzy said laughing.

"I should probably get going." Roger said looking at the clock.

"Ok." She said looking up at him. She leaned up and kissed him. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yes you will." He said smiling and kissing her one more time before getting up. He made it half way to the door before turning around and walking back to her. He pulled her into a deep kiss. "I had to do that."

"I'm glad you did." She said smiling.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He said kissing her forehead before walking out the door. Izzy wrapped a blanket around herself and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

A/N: This is dedicated to my Renthead partner in crime, Renthead621. Thanks for all the help with this story. Actually thanks for your help with all my stories and always being there when I need someone to talk to. And thanks for sharing in my insanity with me! I'll have the next chapter up sometime tomorrow night. Remember to review, they really make me get these out faster.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	5. A Perfect Night

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. All characters that you recognize belong to Jonathon Larson and all characters you don't recognize belong to me.

Roger walked out of his bedroom wearing a nice pair of dress pants and a white button down shirt.

"Look who cleans up oh so well." Mimi said smiling. She was sitting on the couch next to Mark.

"Shut up." Roger said smiling.

"How come you never dressed like that for me?" Mimi asked pretending to be hurt.

"Because you never wanted to go out anywhere but the Life or Life Support." Roger said sitting down next to her.

"So when are you picking up Izzy?" Mark asked pointing the camera at him.

"In about an hour." Roger said smiling. "Mark get that fucking camera out of my face, I swear I'll hurt you."

"Fine." Mark said rolling his eyes. "So when do I get to meet her?"

"I don't know. Soon." Roger said shrugging as the phone rang. The machine picked up after a few rings.

"Roger its Izzy." Izzy's voice came over the machine.

"Hey Izzy." Roger said as his smile grew.

"Hi Roger." Izzy said. "I have some bad news."

"What?" He asked as his smile disappeared.

"My mom just called and said that she can't watch the girls and no one else can." Izzy said disappointedly.

"That's ok." Roger said defeated. "We'll do something next week."

"I'm so sorry Roger." Izzy said. "I was really looking forward to tonight."

"Me too." He said. "But it's fine. We'll just do it next week."

"Ok." Izzy said. "I have to go Toni's throwing a tantrum."

"Ok. Bye." Roger said.

"Bye." Izzy said as they hung up.

"What happened?" Mimi asked noticing the look on Roger's face.

"Izzy's mom can't baby-sit so we had to cancel our date for tonight." Roger said. "I'll be in my room."

"Oh hell no." Mimi said standing up. "Roger get your coat on, Mark you too."

"Why?" Mark asked.

"Izzy needs babysitters and it's going to be you and me." Mimi said putting on her coat.

"Wait why do I have to come?" Mark asked.

"Because I said so. Now get your scrawny ass up so we can get Roger to his date." Mimi said.

"Meems you don't have to do that. There's always next week." Roger said.

"No." Mimi said shaking her head. "No day but today."

"You are the best Meems." Roger said smiling and hugging her.

"No problem." Mimi said smiling. "Let's get this show on the road."

* * *

"Roger? What are you doing here?" Izzy asked shocked as she opened the door.

"I'm here for our date." Roger said smiling as he kissed her cheek.

"But I don't have a babysitter." She asked confused. Roger stepped to the side revealing Mimi and Mark.

"You do now." Mimi said smiling.

"This is my roommate Mark." Roger said introducing Izzy and Mark.

"It's nice to finally meet you." Mark said holding out his hand.

"You too." Izzy said smiling. "You guys really didn't have to do this."

"We wanted to." Mimi said smiling. "You and Roger deserve a night out."

"Ok. Well come on in." Izzy said moving so they could come in. "Lucia's already down for the night. She shouldn't wake up, but if she does just sit with her till she falls back asleep." Toni jumped up and ran to Roger when she saw him.

"Hi Roger!" She said wrapping her arms around his legs. Roger laughed and reached down to pick her up.

"I want you to meet someone." Roger said smiling. "Toni, this is my friend Mark. Mark this is Toni."

"Hi Toni it's nice to meet you." Mark said smiling at the little girl.

"Hi." She said shyly as she buried her face in Roger's chest.

"Someone's shy today." Mimi said giggling.

"I promise Mark is really nice." Roger said smiling.

"Ok." She said with her face still buried.

"I'm going to go get ready." Izzy said smiling at Roger and Toni.

"Ok. We'll be out here." Roger said sitting down on the couch with Toni. "You guys can sit down." Mimi and Mark nodded and sat down.

"So Toni what did you do today?" Roger asked looking down at the little girl.

"Mommy took me to the toy store!" Toni said excitedly.

"Oh really?" Roger asked smiling. "And what did she get you?"

"She got me a new teddy bear." Toni said smiling. "Do you want to see it?"

"Of course." Roger said smiling as she ran into her room.

"She's adorable." Mark said smiling.

"I know." Roger said smiling. "Lucia is a cutie too."

"Look!" Toni said climbing back into Roger's lap. "I named him Tommy, after the story you told me."

"That's cool." Roger said smiling.

"You ready to go?" Izzy asked coming back into the living room. She was wearing a red dress with her hair pulled back into a loose bun. Roger couldn't get over how stunning she looked.

"You look amazing." Roger said getting up and kissing her cheek.

"Thanks. You look great too." Izzy said smiling. "Here is a list of numbers in case of an emergency." She said handing a piece of paper to Mimi.

"Ok. Now you guys go and have fun." Mimi said smiling.

"Ok." Izzy said picking up Toni. "Mommy and Roger are going to go now. You be good for Mimi and Mark."

"Ok." Toni said hugging her mother.

"I love you." Izzy said.

"Love you too mommy." Toni said as Izzy set her down.

"We won't be back too late." Izzy said as Roger helped her put her coat on.

"Have fun. We got everything under control." Mimi said.

"Ok. See you guys later." Izzy said as her and Roger walked out the door. When they were out the door Roger wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a kiss.

"You look amazing." Roger said when he pulled away.

"Thank you." She said smiling. "So where are we going?"

"That's a surprise." Roger said smiling and leading them out of the building. The entire time he kept his arm wrapped around her waist. "Ok here we are." He said stopping at an upscale Italian restaurant.

"I've been dying to go here." Izzy said smiling.

"Why haven't you gone before?" Roger asked as they walked in.

"I didn't have anyone to go with." Izzy said as they were led to a candlelit table. Roger pulled out her chair for her.

"Well I'm glad that I'm the one to take you here." Roger said kissing her cheek before sitting down himself.

"God I can't believe I'm out on a date." Izzy said smiling. "It's been a long time."

"Well I'm glad you came out with me." Roger said smiling as he took her hand.

"Me too." She said smiling back. After dinner Roger and Izzy decided to take a little walk before they went back to her apartment.

"I had a great time tonight Izzy." Roger said smiling down at her.

"So did I." Izzy said looking up at him. "We should do this again."

"I get a second date?" He said grinning.

"Definitely." Izzy said leaning up and kissing him. Roger wrapped his arms around her waist and picked up and spun her around. "Roger." She squealed.

"What?" He said as he stopped spinning but he still had her in his arms.

"Put me down." She giggled.

"I don't think I can do that." He smiled.

"Roger." She said sternly.

"Fine." He said putting her down. "Should we head back?"

"Probably." She said as he took her hand and walked down the street.

* * *

"Hey guys." Izzy said as her and Roger walked into the apartment.

"Did you guys have fun?" Mimi asked.

"Yeah." Izzy said smiling. "How was Toni?"

"Great. She went to bed fine but I had to tell her a bedtime story." Mark said looking up at Roger.

"Mark, she's a little girl. Little girls like bedtime stories." Roger said holding Izzy in his arms.

"Um, yeah it was her choice that had me looking at you. Tommy used to work on the docks? Roger that's a Bon Jovi song." Mark said as he, Mimi and Izzy laughed.

"Gimme a break. It was all I could think of. Do I look like someone who would know Cinderella? Unless you're talking about the hairband and then I would rock it." Roger said laughing with them.

"Whatever it worked and she's been asleep ever since." Mark said shaking his head as he stood up.

"Thank you guys so much." Izzy said. "I'm going to go check on the girls."

"We're going to head back to the loft." Mimi said hugging Roger goodbye. "You should bring Izzy and the girls over tomorrow."

"I'll talk to her about it." Roger said as Mimi and Mark put their coats on.

"We'll see you later." Mark said as they walked out of the house. Roger sat down on the couch and waited for Izzy to come out. She came out five minutes later.

"Hey." She said sitting down next to him. "Where did Mark and Mimi go?"

"They went home." Roger said as she rested her head against his shoulder. "They wanted to know if you wanted to come over with the girls tomorrow."

"Yeah that'll be fun." Izzy said. "You want to watch TV for a little bit?"

"Sure." He said picking up the remote. They fell asleep within minutes.

* * *

Roger woke up hearing Toni crying. He gently moved Izzy and got up and rushed into the girls room.

"Toni?" He asked kneeling down next to her bed.

"I had a bad dream." She said crying. Roger picked her up.

"It was only a dream. You're fine now." He said.

"Will you stay in here?" She asked sticking out her bottom lip.

"Of course." He said smiling. He grabbed a pillow off the floor and laid down next to her bed.

"Night Roger." Toni said sleepily.

"Night Toni." He said before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

* * *

Izzy woke up on the couch and realized it was morning. She looked around but didn't see Roger. She got up to go check on the girls, and smiled when she saw Roger sleeping on the floor next to Toni's bed. She quietly went over to him and woke him up.

"Roger." She whispered quietly. When he opened his eyes he smiled at her.

"Hey." He said getting up. "What time is it?"

"A little after six." She said walking out of the room. "Why were you sleeping on the floor in there?"

"Toni had a bad dream and wanted me to stay in there for a little while." He said sitting down on the couch.

"You are amazing." She said leaning down and kissing his cheek before going into the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Roger asked.

"Making coffee." Izzy said.

"No way." Roger said getting up and walking into the kitchen. He picked her up and carried her back into the living room. "It is way too early to be up on a Sunday." Roger said sitting down on the couch. "We're going back to bed."

"The girls are going to be up in an hour." Izzy said laughing.

"Then we'll get up when they wake up." Roger said laying down with his arms wrapped around her.

"Ok." She said smiling as he kissed her cheek and pulled a blanket over them. They fell back asleep a minute later.

A/N: I hope you liked the chapter. I'll try to get the next chapter up tonight but I make no guarantees. Thanks to Renthead621 as always, I'd be lost without you. For everyone who's reading this tell me what you think! I love hearing your input and I'd love any suggestions that you might have. I can't guarantee that I'll use them but it's nice to hear what you think.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	6. Three Little Words

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. I think we all know.

"Mimi!" Toni yelled as she ran into Mimi's arms.

"Hey there little one." Mimi said smiling as she picked up the girl. "How's my favorite little girl doing?"

"Good." She said smiling as Mimi set her down.

"Are you ready for our sleepover?" Mimi asked.

"Yes." Toni said. "Mommy brought over my bedtime story tape that Roger made me."

"Bon Jovi?" Mimi asked looking at Izzy.

"Of course." Izzy said going over to hug her. "He's turned her into a total hairband fanatic."

"I can't say I'm shocked." Mimi said laughing. "Roger should be here in an hour."

"Ok." Izzy said smiling as she sat on the couch with Lucia. "Thank you so much for watching them tonight."

"No problem." Mimi said sitting next to her. "I was just going to sit here in the loft all night and watch Mark toy with that damn camera."

"So what's going on with you and Mark?" Izzy asked smiling. In the two months that her and Roger had been dating she noticed something between Mimi and Mark.

"Nothing." Mimi said smiling.

"Oh yeah right, that was real convincing." Izzy said laughing.

"Ok but you have to promise not to say anything." Mimi said. "Especially to Roger."

"Ok. Deal." Izzy said.

"Nothings happened but I think I like Mark." Mimi said blushing.

"Why hasn't anything happened yet?" Izzy asked.

"I don't know maybe because he's my ex boyfriends best friend." Mimi said rolling her eyes.

"We're friends right?" Izzy asked.

"Oh course. You're one of my best friends." Mimi said.

"Well I'm your ex boyfriends current girlfriend." Izzy said laughing.

"I know. But it's just I don't know if he feels the same way." Mimi said.

"Well you'll never know unless you make a move." Izzy said.

"You're right." Mimi said.

"Of course I am." Izzy said laughing.

"Ok subject change. Are you excited about tonight?" Mimi asked taking Lucia.

"Yeah." Izzy said. "He's taking me out to the movies after we eat."

"I think it's so sweet." Mimi said playing with Lucia. "I can't believe it's only been two months. It seems like it's been so much longer. In a good way."

"I know." Izzy said smiling. "I really appreciate you babysitting."

"It's no problem." Mimi said. "Are you still having problems with you mom?"

"Yeah. She thinks we're moving too fast and that I shouldn't let him be around the girls." Izzy said frowning. "But if she'd see the way he is with them, then she would understand."

"Just give her time sweetie." Mimi said. The door slid open and Roger walked in.

"Roger!" Toni yelled getting up from where she was playing and running over to him. Roger smiled and picked her up.

"How's my favorite little girl?" He asked.

"Good." She said hugging him.

"Are you excited about having a sleepover with Mimi and Mark?" Roger asked sitting down next to Izzy.

"Yes." Toni said. "Can I go play?"

"Of course." Roger said kissing the top of her head and setting her down. He turned to Izzy and quickly kissed her. "Hi." He said smiling.

"Hi." She said smiling. "You excited about tonight?"

"Yeah." Roger said wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "What about you?"

"I can't wait." She said smiling up at him.

"There are small children in the room." Mimi said laughing.

"And how are you today Meems?" Roger asked laughing.

"I'm fine. How was work?" Mimi asked.

"Good." He said. Roger had just been made a manager at record store in the village. He loved it and it still gave him a flexible schedule to perform.

"We should start getting ready soon if we want to get something to eat before hand." Izzy said looking up at Roger.

"Ok." He said leaning down and kissing her. "I'm gonna jump in the shower."

"Ok. I'm going to order the pizza for them and then I'll start getting ready." Izzy said.

"Ok." He said kissing her one last time before getting up.

* * *

"Ok you guys sure your ok with them sleeping over?" Izzy asked as she put her coat on.

"Izzy we got this." Mimi said smiling. "Go and have fun."

"Ok." Izzy said leaning down and kissing the girls goodbye. "Be good for Mimi and Mark ok?"

"Ok mommy." Toni said.

"I'll see you girls in the morning ok?" Izzy said.

"Ok." Toni said as Izzy kissed her cheek. Roger bent down and picked Toni up.

"Be good little one." Roger said kissing her cheek.

"I will." Toni said as he put her down.

"Bye." Izzy said as her and Roger walked out the door.

"Your really nervous about leaving them aren't you?" Roger asked as they made their way down the stairs.

"They've never spent the night anywhere before." Izzy said.

"They'll be fine." Roger said as they walked to the restaurant.

"I know. But I worry about them." Izzy said. "Their my life."

"I know." Roger said as they walked into the restaurant. "But you know that they're in good hands."

"I know." She said as they sat down. "So what movie are we going to see tonight?"

"Rebel Without a Cause is playing at this theater around the corner." Roger said looking at the menu.

"I love that movie." Izzy said excitedly. "I was in love with James Dean."

"He died before we were even born." Roger said.

"And your point?" Izzy asked.

"Um you were in love with a dead guy." Roger said laughing.

"It didn't matter. He was gorgeous and he was such a great actor." Izzy gushed.

"Who would you pick me or James Dean?" Roger asked.

"That's a hard one." Izzy said pretending to think about it.

"Oh you are going to pay for that one." Roger said.

"I'm kidding." Izzy said leaning over the table. "Of course it would be you." She said kissing him.

"It better be." He said kissing her again.

* * *

"God I love that movie." Izzy said as they walked out of the movie theater.

"I see that now." Roger said laughing.

"James Dean is so perfect in that. And Natalie Wood is so amazing." Izzy said.

"I'm glad you had a good time." Roger said wrapping his arm around her waist.

"I had a spectacular time." She said smiling up at him.

"Good." Roger said as they got to her apartment.

"Do you want something to dr..." she started before his lips cut her off.

"I have everything I want right here." he said caressing her face with his thumb.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" she asked staring into his mesmerizing green eyes.

"I love you Izz." he whispered as she smiled up at him.

"I love you too Roger." she whispered leaning up to kiss him again. This one was long and passionate. He picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. As he gently laid her on the bed, she pulled away. "Roger, are you sure?" she asked as he smiled down at her.

"Izz, I'm sure." he whispered as he kissed her again and they began undressing one another and they made love.

* * *

Izzy woke up the next morning and smiled, she leaned up and kissed Roger.

"Morning." He said opening his eyes and smiling down at her.

"Morning." She said smiling back.

"We should probably head over to the loft to get the girls." Roger said.

"Ok." She said leaning up and kissing him before getting out of bed. Roger pulled on his boxers and wrapped his arms around her.

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." She said as he leaned down and kissed her again.

"Ok. We should really get dressed and over to the loft." He said smiling.

"I know. But you started it." Izzy said smiling as she went into the living room. There was a knock at the door and Izzy walked over and answered it.

"Good morning Isabella." Her mother said smiling.

"Mom what are you doing here?" Izzy asked. Before her mother said anything Roger came out while buttoning up his shirt.

"You ready to go Izz?" Roger asked. Roger stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Mrs. Boscerelli.

"Isabella?" Her mother asked in an angry tone.

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger it had to be done. I'm probably not going to be able to update this weekend. The next chapter will probably be up sometime next week. I hope you all liked this chapter. Thanks for everyone who reviewed I love hearing from you guys. Thanks again to Renthead621 for helping me write this chapter. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Remember to review! I love hearing your thoughts and ideas.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	7. Mom and Daddy Issues

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what belongs to Jonathon Larson and you know what belongs to me.

"What's going on here, Isabella?" Mrs. Boscerelli asked angrily. "Are you really that irresponsible? Where are the girls?"

"They spent the night at my friend's house." Izzy said getting angry.

"Who? People you just met? How could you do something this dumb?" Mrs. Boscerelli said. "You barely know these people and you trust them with your children."

"Mom, Collins is my colleague and these are my friends. So yes I trust them with my girls. Do you really think that I would leave them with people I didn't completely trust?" Izzy said angrily.

"You trusted Frank, look where that got you." Mrs. Boscerelli said.

"Get out!" Izzy yelled.

"You're going to do this to your own mother?" She asked.

"Leave right now." Izzy said. Mrs. Boscerelli glared at the two before leaving.

"Hey are you ok?" Roger asked pulling her into a hug.

"I can't believe she said that about Frank. She's the one that was so thrilled when we started dating." Izzy said as she started to cry. "He's was the good Italian boy from a good family."

"Izzy it's ok." Roger said trying to comfort her.

"He was such a great guy that he left a week after he found out I was pregnant with Lucia." She cried.

"You're better off without him." Roger said soothingly. "Don't even waste time on him any more. You have two amazing little girls, a great job, and good friends."

"And an amazing boyfriend." She said smiling as she wiped away her tears.

"Only because of you." He whispered as he sat down on the couch with her. They just sat there in silence for awhile. "Do you want to go get the girls now?"

"Yeah." Izzy said standing up.

* * *

When Roger and Izzy walked into the loft Mimi was sitting at the table with the girls eating cereal.

"Mommy!" Toni said jumping up and running over to her.

"Hey there princess." Izzy said smiling as she picked her up.

"Hi Roger!" Toni said smiling. Roger had walked over and picked up Lucia.

"Hey there little one." He said smiling at Toni.

"How was your date?" Mimi asked smiling.

"It was great." Roger said sitting down on the couch with Lucia.

"Until my mother showed up this morning." Izzy said rolling her eyes and setting Toni back down. "Why don't you go get your stuff together?"

"Ok." Toni said running into Roger's room.

"What happened?" Mimi asked.

"She showed up this morning and started yelling about how irresponsible I was, so I told her to get out." Izzy said sitting down next to Roger.

"I'm sorry sweetie." Mimi said.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Izzy said. "But now I'm going to have to ask my sister if she can watch the girls when I'm at work."

"I can watch them if you want." Mimi offered. "It's not like I'm working right now and I love watching them."

"I don't want to inconvenience you." Izzy said.

"You won't be." Mimi said smiling.

"Thank you so much." Izzy said smiling. She looked down at her watch and saw that it was noon. "Crap. I have to get going."

"Why?" Roger asked looking up from Lucia.

"My sister and brother are coming by at two for lunch." Izzy said getting up. "I have to go home and start cooking."

"Oh ok." Roger said standing up.

"Do you want to come?" Izzy asked. She had been wanting to introduce Roger to Mickey and Leo but she didn't want to rush things.

"I'd love to." He said smiling. "Let me jump in the shower and get changed and then we'll leave."

"How about I take the girls back and start getting ready and you meet us back at my apartment in an hour?" Izzy asked.

"Ok." He said kissing her cheek before going into the bathroom.

"Toni we have to get going." Izzy said loud enough for her to hear. A moment later Toni came out of the room with her overnight bag.

"I'm ready mommy." Toni said looking around. "Where's Roger? I want to say bye."

"He's going to come over and have lunch with us, so you'll see him in an hour." Izzy said smiling.

"Ok." Toni said as she walked over to Mimi. "Bye Mimi." She said hugging her.

"Bye little one. I'll see you soon ok?" Mimi said bending down and hugging her.

"Ok." She said smiling as she took Izzy's hand.

"I'll call you later tonight and we'll work out times and how much I'll pay you for watching them." Izzy said as she took Toni's hand and headed towards the door.

"You really don't have to pay me." Mimi protested.

"I'm paying you Meems." Izzy said. "I'll call you later about it. Bye."

"Bye." Mimi said as Izzy shut the door.

* * *

Izzy was rushing around the house trying to straighten it up when someone knocked at the door. She hurried over and opened it.

"Hi." Roger said smiling as he leaned in to kiss her cheek.

"Hi." Izzy said smiling. He was wearing a white button down shirt and khaki pants. "Roger you didn't have to get dressed up like that. It's only my brother and sister."

"I just wanted to make a good impression." Roger said smiling as he walked into the house.

"You will don't worry." She said as she followed him into the kitchen.

"So do you need any help?" He asked as he leaned against the counter.

"Do you think you could keep an eye on the girls while I finish up in here?" Izzy asked.

"I'd love to." He smiled and leaned in and kissed her cheek before heading into the girls room.

"Will you play with me?" Toni asked looking up at Roger.

"Of course." He said smiling. He went over to the crib and picked up Lucia and sat on the floor. "How about a game that all three of us can play."

"Ok." Toni got up and started rummaging through her toy box. An hour later Izzy came in. She smiled when she saw Toni sitting next to Roger and Lucia in his lap and they were playing dolls.

"Let me take Lucia and get her cleaned up." Izzy said bending down and picking up Lucia. "Do you think you can help Tony pick up her room?"

"Yeah." Roger said standing up. "We'll be out in a minute." Five minutes later they had the room picked up. "Let's go out to the living room." He said smiling down at her.

"Ok daddy." Toni said as she ran out of the room. Roger just stood there dumbfounded. He couldn't believe that she had just said that. He finally got his feet to work and walked into the living room.

"Izzy, can I talk to you real quick?" Roger asked still stunned.

"Yeah." She said looking over at him.

"Um Toni just called me daddy." He said still in shock. Izzy's face paled and she looked away.

"I'm sorry about that." She said quietly. "I'll talk to her about it. She won't do it again."

"Izzy." He said gently as he walked over to her and lifted her face up towards his. "I'm not mad about it. It just caught me off guard." He paused. "I really do love those girls with all my heart." He felt tears burning in his eyes. "I'd be honored if she called me that."

"You are amazing." Izzy said leaning up to kiss him. "But I still think that we should talk about it with her."

"Yeah I think that's a good idea too." Roger said. Izzy kissed him one more time.

"Hey Toni, can you come here for a minute?" Izzy asked as she sat down on the couch. Toni came running over and climbed onto Roger's lap.

"Huh?" Toni asked smiling.

"Toni did you call Roger daddy?" Izzy asked.

"Yes." Toni said smiling.

"Why did you do that?" Izzy asked gently.

"Because he does all the stuff that daddies are supposed to do." Toni said smiling. "Like read me stories and play with me and make sure there are no monsters under the bed and I love him."

"I love you too Toni." Roger said hugging her tightly. "But you don't have to call me daddy if you don't want to."

"But I want to." Toni said looking up at him.

"Then you can." Roger said smiling and hugging her again.

"Toni, why don't you go play in your room until Aunt Mickey and Uncle Leo get here?" Izzy said reaching over and hugging her.

"Ok." Toni said as she ran into her bedroom.

"Are you sure your ok with this?" Izzy asked.

"Yes." Roger said smiling. "I kind of love it."

"I love you." She said leaning forward and kissing him.

"I love you too." He said. "All of you."

A/N: Once again sorry for the lack of updating. Real life kind was kicking my ass there for awhile and then I went on vacation. But I'm back now and I will be updating with a vengeance. I hope you all liked this chapter. I think it shows how close they all are becoming. And there's defiantly going to be more with Izzy's family. Thanks to all who reviewed, you are amazing. I'll update again soon. Remember to review!

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	8. Meeting The Families

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. I think you know what belongs to Jonathon Larson and what belongs to me.

Izzy heard someone knock at the door and walked over to answer it.

"Hey!" She said as she hugged her brother and sister. "Come on in."

"How are you?" Her sister Mickey asked as she took off her coat.

"I'm really good." Izzy said smiling. "How about you?"

"Same." Mickey said smiling.

"Can't complain." Leo said as the walked over to the couch. "So where's this guy?"

"He's playing with the girls in their room." Izzy said smiling. "I'll go get him." She walked into the girls room and a minute later came out with Lucia in her arms. "He's helping Toni clean up her toys again. He'll be out in a minute."

"Okay." Mickey said as Roger came out holding Toni.

"Roger, this is my brother Leo and my sister Mickey." Izzy introduced them. "Guys this is Roger."

"Nice to meet you." Leo said as he held out his hand.

"You too." Roger said smiling as he shook his hand. He set Toni down and turned towards Mickey.

"It's great to finally meet you." Mickey said as she hugged him.

"It's great to meet you too." Roger said.

"How's my little munchkin?" Leo said as he picked up Toni.

"Good." She said smiling.

"You've been good for your mommy?" Leo asked as he sat down on the couch.

"Yes." She said nodding her head.

"That's good." Leo said laughing.

"Do you want to see my new doll?" Toni asked excitedly.

"Of course." He said getting up and following her into her room.

"So Roger, tell me about yourself." Mickey asked.

"Well I'm twenty eight, I'm the manager at a record store in the east village." Roger said. "And I perform with my band on the weekends."

"What kind music do you play?" Mickey asked.

"Mostly rock." Roger said smiling.

"We'll have to come check you guys out one weekend." Mickey said.

"Well we're playing this Saturday, you're more than welcome to come out." Roger said. "My little brother and sisters should be coming out too."

"I thought you only had one sister?" Izzy asked confused.

"We'll technically I do." Roger said laughing. "But Michelle's best friend Hanna is going to be there too. She's lived next door to us for years and she kind of became the adopted sister."

"Aw that's cute." Mickey said laughing. "How old are they?"

"Michelle's twenty, Hanna's a month younger than her and Jon just turned nineteen." Roger said.

"Are you close with them?" Mickey asked.

"Yeah." Roger said as Lucia climbed over to him. "But I still think of them as babies, you know?"

"I know how that is." Izzy said laughing.

"You're only two years older than me." Mickey laughed.

"Still makes you a baby." Izzy said as Leo and Toni came back into the living room.

"Daddy will you help me find my bedtime tape so Uncle Leo can listen to it?" Toni asked. Leo and Mickey both looked at Roger and Izzy.

"Of course." Roger said getting up and handing Lucia to Izzy before following her into the bedroom.

"Daddy?" Leo asked shocked.

"She just started calling him that today." Izzy said. "Before you guys jump down my throat just watch how he is with them."

"Don't you think it's a little soon?" Mickey asked genuinely shocked.

"No." Izzy said. "My girls deserve to have a father figure in their life and Roger has given that to them since day one."

"We just don't want you to get hurt again." Leo said.

"I know and I love you guys for that. But just give him a chance and get to know him." Izzy said pleadingly.

"Of course we'll give him a chance." Mickey said. Roger came back out with Toni.

"Here's the tape daddy made me!" Toni said smiling and handing the tape to Leo.

"Ok, I'll put it in right now." Leo said as he got up and went over to the tape player to turn it on. All the adults started laughing as the heard the opening of Living on a Prayer.

"I take it you're a Bon Jovi fan?" Mickey asked laughing.

"You could say that." Roger said laughing.

"I loved them too." Leo said coming back and sitting down.

"So Roger's a musician and his band is playing this weekend, you want to come?" Mickey asked.

"Sure, I think I can get the night off." Leo said.

"What do you do?" Roger asked as Lucia once again crawled over to him.

"Well I'm a bartender right now, it's helping pay my way through law school." Leo said.

"That's really cool." Roger said smiling. "I used to bartend when I first moved to the east village."

"Then you know my pain." Leo said as he and Roger laughed.

"Oh yes it's so painful to be hit on every night by all those college girls." Izzy said rolling her eyes as she got up and went into the kitchen.

"I'll have you know that it is. Especially when you're over protective sisters like to hang out there and scare said college girls away." Leo laughed.

"How old are you?" Roger asked.

"Twenty three." Leo said.

"I have a brother who's nineteen and two sisters who are twenty." Roger said.

"Twins?" Leo said very interested.

"Um no, Michelle's my actual sister and Hanna we've known for years so I consider her a sister." Roger said laughing.

"Damn." Leo said disappointed.

"Ok now you're never allowed to meet them." Roger said laughing.

"Ok guys come get your food." Izzy said as she walked to the dining room table with a casserole dish. Everyone filed to the table and sat down.

* * *

Izzy was putting the girls to bed when Roger heard a knock at the door. He got up to answer it and he nearly had a heart attack when he saw is baby sister Michelle standing there. She was almost 5'6" with red hair that came to her shoulders and green eyes that matched Roger's.

"Shelley what are you doing here?" Roger asked surprised.

"I went to the loft and Mark said you were here." Michelle said.

"Is something wrong?" Roger said getting worried.

"Everyone's fine." Michelle said. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah sure." Roger said stepping aside as she walked in. "Chelle I know something must be wrong."

"I just need to get away for a few days and clear my head." Michelle said turning around to face her brother once again. "I was wondering if I could stay at the loft for a few days.

"Are you at least going to tell me what happened?" Roger asked.

"I'm pregnant." Michelle said quietly as she looked at the ground. Roger felt the room spin. When he looked back at Michelle she had tears in her eyes. He gently wrapped his arm around her and led her over to the couch.

"Is it James'?" He asked.

"Yeah." She said quietly. "I didn't find out until after we broke up."

"Who else knows?" Roger asked.

"Just Hanna." Michelle said as she started to cry. "I can't tell mom and dad. they'll be so mad."

"It's ok." Roger said as he hugged. "We'll figure something out. Everything will be fine, I promise." Roger pulled away and wiped her tears away. "Why don't you go wash your face and I'll introduce you to Izzy?"

"Ok." Michelle said as she got up.

"The bathroom is on the right." He said pointing down the small hallway. Michelle nodded and went into the bathroom. Izzy came out a minute later.

"Who was at the door?" Izzy asked as she shut the girls' bedroom door.

"Come here." Roger said as he motioned for her to come to the couch.

"Is everything alright?" Izzy asked concerned as she sat next to him.

"Michelle's here." He said.

"Your sister?" Izzy asked. "Is something wrong?"

"She's pregnant." Roger said putting his head in his hands.

"Is she ok?" Izzy asked putting an arm around her.

"She's scared of what my mom is going to say." Roger said. "Iz, she's only twenty."

"I know." Izzy said rubbing his back. "What about the father?"

"All I know is that they broke up before she knew she was pregnant." Roger said as he looked up when he heard the bathroom door open.

"Hi." Michelle said quietly as she reentered the room. Roger was struck by how quiet and timid she was acting. She was usually so outgoing and loud like all the Davis children.

"It's great to finally meet you Michelle." Izzy said standing up and hugging her. "I've heard a lot of great things about you."

"I've heard a lot about you too." Michelle said with a small smile.

"Do you want something to drink?" Izzy asked

"Water sounds good." Michelle said.

"Why don't you sit down and I'll go get some chips and stuff." Izzy said.

"Thank you." Michelle said as she sat next to Roger. Izzy disappeared into the kitchen.

"What am I going to do Roger?" Michelle asked.

"I don't know. But we'll figure something out." Roger said wrapping her up in a tight hug. "I'll take you over to the loft tomorrow and we'll figure things out then. Tonight you can stay here and get to know Izzy better."

"Ok." Michelle said nodding as Izzy came back into the living room.

* * *

Roger laid in bed awake. As much as he tried he couldn't fall asleep. He turned over for what must have been the millionth time that night.

"You ok?" Izzy asked as she turned on the lap that was on the nightstand.

"There's just a million different things going through my mind right now." Roger said looking up at her. "I don't know what to do to make everything better."

"Just be there for her." Izzy said. "That's all you can really do. She's going to need a lot of support."

"It's just hard seeing her so shook up like that." Roger said closing his eyes. "I remember the day she was born. I was so excited when my parents told me my mom was pregnant. I was going to be someone's big brother." He said as the hint of a smile crept to his lips. "I promised her the day she was born that I would always look out for her and make sure nothing bad happened to her."

"Roger this isn't your fault." Izzy said. "And a lot of joy can come out of something like this. Something good happened for me."

"I know." Roger said looking at her. "But to think of my baby sister alone and prengnant..." he trailed off.

"Just try to give her all the moral support that she's going to need." Izzy said wishing there as something she could do to make this all better but knowing that she couldn't. She knew how scared Michelle must be right now, she'd been there herself when she found out she was pregnant with Toni. But she knew that Michelle would have a lot of support from her family.

"She's just so young." Roger said.

"I was only twenty four when I had Toni." Izzy said quietly.

"I know." Roger said looking up at her.

"We'll help her get through this." Izzy said laying her head on his chest. "Why don't we try to go to sleep, we're going to have a long day tomorrow."

"Ok." Roger said as he stroked her hair.

"Everything will work out." Izzy said looking up at him.

"I hope you're right." Roger said as he turned off the light and tried to get some sleep.

A/N: What did you think? Hope you guys like that chapter. Roger's sister is kind of going to be a big part of these next few chapters. The idea just popped into my head. I'm going to start the next chapter right after I start this one. I've had a sudden burst of inspiration and now I can't stop! Which is nice since I've been struggling with writer's block lately. Remember to review!

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	9. Going Home

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what belongs to Jonathon Larson and you know what belongs to me.

Izzy woke up at six thirty the next morning. She turned over and saw that Roger was still sleeping so she gently crawled out of bed, careful not to wake Roger. She knew he hadn't slept well last night and wanted him to sleep as late as possible. When she walked out of the bedroom she saw Michelle standing in front of the bathroom mirror. Her shirt was lifted up revealing her slightly round stomach.

"Morning." Izzy said quietly.

"I didn't wake you, did I?" Michelle asked as she turned around.

"No. I'm usually up much early but it seems the girls decided to sleep in today." Izzy said smiling. "How are you doing?"

"Ok, I guess." Michelle said looking at the ground.

"How about we go into the living room and I'll make some hot chocolate and we'll talk." Izzy said.

"Ok." Michelle said as she followed her into the living room and sat on the couch. Izzy came back out a few minutes later with two mugs of hot chocolate.

"Here you go." Izzy said handing her the mug and sitting down next to her.

"Thanks." Michelle said taking a sip of her hot chocolate. "Were you scared when you found out you were pregnant?" Michelle asked looking up at her.

"I was terrified." Izzy answered truthfully. "But then when I had Toni all those fears melted away."

"I'm so scared." Michelle said looking at her.

"It'll be ok." Izzy said setting down her mug and hugging her. "You have a lot of people who love you and will help you."

"What if I can't do it?" Michelle asked. "What if I'm not a good mother?"

"Don't worry about that." Izzy said stroking her hair. "Once you have your child in your arms it will all click into place." Michelle hugged her tighter before pulling away.

"Thanks for the talk." Michelle said wiping her eyes.

"Anytime." Izzy said.

"I'm going to go get into the shower." Michelle said getting up.

"Ok." Izzy said. "Once everyone wakes up I'll start making breakfast."

"That sounds nice." Michelle said before heading towards the bathroom. When Michelle came out Roger was sitting on the couch watching T.V with Lucia.

"Hey." Roger said looking over at her. "You sleep ok?"

"Yeah." Michelle said sitting down next to him. "Who's this?"

"This is Lucia." Roger said smiling. "You want to hold her?"

"Sure." Michelle said as he handed her to her. "She's adorable. How old is she?"

"A year and a half. She turns two in August." Roger said smiling.

"You're really doing good for yourself." Michelle said smiling.

"I got really lucky." Roger said. "Meeting Izzy and my girls was the best thing that ever happened to me."

"I'm really happy for you." Michelle said smiling.

"Thanks." Roger said. "I talked to Mark this morning, he said your welcome to stay at the loft for as long as you need to."

"Thank you." Michelle said quietly.

"But I think we should go home and talk to everyone." Roger said. "They need to know."

"They're going to hate me." Michelle said starting to cry. Roger moved over and wrapped his arms around her.

"They aren't going to hate you." Roger whispered. "Look at all the shit I've put them through over the years."

"You'll come with me?" Michelle asked looking up at him.

"Of course." Roger said kissing her head. "I'll be right there with you the entire time."

"Ok." Michelle said as Izzy walked out of the bedroom with Toni. Toni ran over to Roger and climbed into his lap.

"Hi daddy." Toni said hugging him.

"Hi Princess." He said kissing her cheek. "There's someone I want you to meet. This is my sister Michelle."

"Hi Toni." Michelle said still holding Lucia.

"Hi." Toni said brightly. "Does that mean you my aunt?" Roger looked up at Michelle questioningly.

"Yes it does." Michelle said.

"Do you want to play dolls with me?" Toni asked.

"I can't right now. I have to go somewhere." Michelle said. Toni started to stick out her bottom lip to pout. "But I'll be back later and we'll play then, ok?"

"Ok." Toni said. "Will you play with me daddy?" She asked turning to face Roger.

"I have to go with Aunt Michelle but I promise I'll play with you when I get back ok?"

"Ok." Toni said nodding.

"Toni, go sit at the table so we can eat breakfast." Izzy said smiling as she walked over and took Lucia. "So we'll see you guys later?"

"Yeah, we're going to head over to my parents house and then to the loft." Roger said standing up and kissing her. "We should be back around four."

"Ok." Izzy said smiling. "Would you like to have dinner with us tonight Michelle?"

"Sure, that sounds nice." Michelle said standing up. "We should probably get going, Roger."

"Ok." Roger said kissing Izzy one last time. "Love you."

"I love you too." Izzy said smiling.

"I love you little one." He said kissing the top of Lucia's head. He walked over to Toni and picked her up. "I love you , princess."

"I love you too." Toni said hugging him.

"Be good for mommy." Roger said putting her back down.

"I will." Toni said.

"We'll be back later." Roger said as he and Michelle put their coats on and walked out the door.

* * *

Roger and Michelle stood outside the Davis home waiting to go on.

"You ready?" Roger asked gently.

"Yes." Michelle said softly as they walked into to the house.

"Mom?" Roger called out. Mrs. Davis came out of the living room.

"Roger what are you doing here?" She asked hugging him.

"Michelle needs to talk to you and dad and she wanted me here too." Roger said when he let go of his mother.

"Is something wrong?" Mrs. Davis asked concerned.

"How about we all go sit down." Roger said. "Is dad home?"

"He's in the basement with Jon." Mrs. Davis said. "I'll go get them." Michelle and Roger sat down on the couch.

"I don't think I can do this." Michelle said putting her head in her hands.

"Yes you can." Roger said encouragingly. "They won't hate you. Everything is going to be fine."

"Jon's going to loose his mind when he finds out." Michelle said looking up at him.

"I'll handle Jon if he gets out of hand." Roger said as his mother, father, and brother walked into the living room.

"Ok so what's going on?" Mr. Davis asked. Roger looked at Michelle who took a deep breathe before starting shakily.

"I'm pregnant." Michelle said quietly. The room was silent before Jon stood up.

"Was it that bastard James?" He yelled. "I swear to go I'll kill him." Roger quickly got up and pulls Jon out of the room.

"We'll be right back." He called over his shoulder as he shoved Jon into what used to be his room. "Calm the fuck down right now."

"That bastard got her pregnant and you're telling me to calm down?" Jon yelled.

"Do you really think she needs you fucking blowing up like that." Roger yelled. "She's already scared enough and she doesn't need you being an idiot." Jon looked at his feet.

"I'm just worried about my baby sister." Jon said. Roger laughed at gently punched his shoulder.

"Dumbass you're the baby in the family." Roger said laughing.

"You know what I mean." Jon said laughing. "Should we go back out there?"

"Yeah." Roger said as they walked back out into the living room. Mr. Davis was sitting on the couch with an arm around Michelle.

"Where's mom?" Roger asked as he sat down next to Michelle.

"She just needed some fresh air." Mr. Davis said as he held Michelle tighter.

"She hates me." Michelle said crying.

"She doesn't hate you." Mr. Davis said.

"I'm going to go talk to mom." Roger said as he walked out of the living room. He walked upstairs and found his mother sitting on Michelle's bed.

"Want some company?" Roger asked.

"Sure." She said. Roger sat down next to her on the bed.

"She's really scared mom." Roger said.

"I know." She said holding a picture of them when they went to Chicago for a family vacation. "Do you remember when we took this?"

"Yeah." Roger said smiling. "It's when Aunt Lyn got married."

"It's hard not to think of her as an eight year old." Mrs. Davis said placing the picture back on the nightstand.

"But she's twenty now." Roger pointed out.

"What's she going to do Roger?" Mrs. Davis asked looking up at him.

"She wanted to stay at the loft for awhile." Roger said softly as the look of pain registered on his mother's face. "She just needs time to clear her head."

"She can't do that here?" She asked.

"No." He said softly. "But she needs to know that you don't hate her."

"I don't hate her." She said.

"She doesn't know that." Roger said. "Go talk to her." Mrs. Davis nodded and got up.

"Are you coming?" She asked.

"I'll be down in a little bit." Roger said. His mother nodded and left the room. Roger got up and walked around the room looking at all the different pictures Michelle had hanging up in her room. She loved to have pictures of her family and friends around her. He picked up one that was taken on Michelle's first birthday. The next picture he looked at was one of him, Michelle and Jon, they were sitting in the living room on Christmas. Roger was about seventeen so Michelle would have been about nine. It always amazed people how close Roger was with his younger siblings. Michelle was eight years younger then him and Jon was nine years younger him. It didn't matter to him. He loved hanging out with them, he'd always regret the years he lost because he was getting high and the years that he would miss in the future. He tried to push that thought away and continued to look at all the pictures.

"What are you thinking about?" Michelle asked standing in the doorway.

"Just about when we were younger." Roger said smiling. "Thinking about how crazy you and Jon were."

"Yeah well we learned from the master." Michelle said laughing. Roger picked up the picture of Michelle's fourteenth birthday. That was right before April killed herself and things were pretty bad. He hadn't talked to any of his family in a year by that point.

"I'm sorry." He said turning and looking at her.

"Sorry about what?" Michelle asked as she sat down on the bed.

"About fucking up." Roger said looking at the ground. "For not being around because of the drugs." Michelle got up and hugged her brother.

"Don't do that." Michelle said hugging him tight. "You made some stupid decisions and you paid for them. But you're still my brother and I love you." Roger felt tears burning in his eyes. "Everyone makes mistakes Roger. Lord knows I have. And dear god Jon is the king of them."

"Hey!" They heard someone say from the door. They pulled apart and saw Jon standing at the door.

"You know it's true." Michelle said laughing.

"You are so lucky that I love you baby sis." Jon said hugging her. "And I should be so mad at you right now for moving out and leaving me all by myself with mom and dad."

"Jon how many times do I have to remind you that _I'm _a year _older _than you_." _Michelle said pulling away.

"You'll always be my baby sister that I need to protect." Jon said as he turned towards Roger. "Rog, Chelle's right, we don't blame you for anything." Jon said. Roger hugged him.

"Thanks little brother, that means a lot to me." Roger said. They sat in Michelle's room for a little bit and helped her pack her things.

"Well if it isn't all the Davis kids in the same room together." They heard a female voice say from the doorway. They turned and saw it was Hanna.

"Hanna banana you better get over here right now and give me a hug." Roger said as she hugged him. He picked her up off the ground. "It's been way too long. How are you?" He asked when he set her back down.

"I'm really good." Hanna said smiling. "I hear you've got quite the life out in the city."

"I really can't complain." Roger said smiling. "I got great job, great friends, the love of my life and two great daughters."

"I see things are moving fast." Hanna said smiling. "Do I hear wedding bells in the near future?"

"Not anytime soon." Roger said smiling. "I'd love to marry her, but I don't' think we're at that point yet."

"Well I'll have to come out and meet her." Hanna said. "Especially now that my best friend is going to be out there."

"Why don't you come and visit tomorrow?" Michelle asked. "And maybe Jon and Erica can come too."

"We'd love too." Jon said smiling. "Speaking of my wonderful girlfriend, I have to go pick her up from work. Are you guys going to be here when we get back?"

"I need to be heading back home too." Roger said.

"Ok, we'll see you tomorrow then." Jon said hugging Roger goodbye before turning to Michelle. "If you ever need anything don't hesitate to call." He said hugging her.

"I will." Michelle said as she hugged him tightly.

"I'll see you tomorrow Hanna." Jon said hugging her too.

"Ok." She said as he left the room. "I can't believe your really not going to be living here anymore."

"It's only a half an hour away, I'm sure that you'll be at the loft all the time." Michelle said as she packed up the last of her stuff. "This is all I need for right now. I can get the rest of my stuff later on."

"Ok." Roger said as he picked up two of the bags and set them by the door. "You better come see us tomorrow." He said to Hanna as he hugged her goodbye.

"Don't worry I will." Hanna said as she pulled away and turned to Michelle. "Don't worry everything will work out for the best."

"I hope so." Michelle whispered with tears in her eyes.

"Come on, let's go say bye to mom and dad." Roger said gently as he picked up the two bags.

* * *

Roger walked back into Izzy's apartment later on that night. She was sitting on the couch grading papers.

"Hi." She said as she set the papers aside. "How'd everything go?"

"It went well." Roger said kissing her cheek before sitting down. "My parents took it relatively well and Jon only had a minor freak out."

"I'm glad everything went well." Izzy said resting her head on his shoulder. "Is she back at the loft right now?"

"Yeah, we went right over there after we left my parents house. She was kind of beat so she decided just to unpack and go to bed." Roger said. "She's going to come over tomorrow."

"That'll be nice." Izzy said.

"And Hanna, Jon and Erica are going to come over too. I hope you don't mind." Roger asked looking down at her.

"It's fine. I can't wait to meet them." Izzy said smiling.

"I haven't really been as close to them in the last couple of years. It'll be nice to spend some time with them again." Roger said.

"I can't wait to meet them." Izzy said yawning. "I think I'm going to go to bed. Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to check on the girls first." Roger said standing up.

"Ok." Izzy said kissing him before going into their bedroom. Roger quietly walked into the girl's bedroom. He went over to the crib and gently covered up Lucia.

"Love you." He whispered quietly before walking over to Toni's bed. He knelt down beside it and kissed her forehead. "Daddy loves you." He said quietly before standing up and going into the bedroom he shared with Izzy. As he climbed into bed he pulled Izzy close.

"Thank you." Roger whispered into her ear.

"For what?" Izzy asked sleepily.

"Coming into my life and letting me be apart of those girls lives." He whispered. Izzy turned around in his arms.

"I couldn't imagine things any other way." Izzy said softly.

"I love you." Roger said kissing her.

"I love you too." Izzy said before closing her eyes. "All of us."

A/N: I know that was a really long chapter but I kind of started it and then couldn't stop. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys rock. I hope you liked this chapter. I'm going to have Roger's relationship with his siblings play a big part of the next couple chapters. And I realized that Maureen and Joanne haven't really been in this so expect some Mo/Jo appearances soon. I don't know when the next chapter will be done. Hopefully sometime in the next couple of days, but I do have to start working on the next chapter of How Did We Get Here, but I'll try to balance the updates between my three different stories. Remember to review.

Until Next Tim, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	10. Verbal Time Out, Ten Minutes

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what belongs to Jonathon Larson and you know what belongs to me.

Izzy stood in the kitchen finishing up the dinner she was cooking for tonight. She had to admit that she was nervous. She knew that Roger had been really close with his siblings and that he really wanted to rebuild that relationship. She wanted to make a good impression. Roger had taken the girls to go pick up Michelle, so it was just Izzy. Izzy heard a knock on the door. When she opened the door she was enveloped in a big hug.

"You must be Izzy." The young man who was hugging her said.

"Jon!" She heard a woman's voice. "Let the poor woman go. She doesn't even know you."

"Sorry." He said laughing. He was about five foot eight with sandy blonde hair. "I'm Jon."

"Hi." Izzy said a little overwhelmed. The girl standing in back of him came forward and pushed him towards the back. She was about five foot four with long black hair that came down past her shoulders.

"Sorry about him." She said smiling. "We don't let him out of his cage much so he's not used to it."

"Hey!" He protested but one look from the blonde girl standing next to him silenced him.

"Anyway, I'm Hanna." Hanna said smiling as she held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you." Izzy said smiling and shaking her hand. "Would you guys like to come in?"

"Thanks." Hanna said as Izzy stepped aside so they could come in. "Well you already know that's Jon." Hanna said pointing to him. "The girl next to him is Erica."

"Nice to meet you." Izzy said smiling again. "Do you guys want anything to drink?"

"Pop is good." Hanna said.

"Ok. I'll go grab a couple cans, please make yourselves at home." Izzy said as she walked into the kitchen. When she came back out Jon and Erica had sat down on the love seat while Hanna had sat on the couch.

"So why on earth would you willingly pick my brother?" Jon asked as Izzy handed him is soda." Hanna glared at him while Erica smacked the back of his head.

"Jon, verbal time out, ten minutes." Hanna said shaking her head.

"Verbal time out?" Izzy asked amused.

"It's this thing Hanna and Michelle came up with when they were little." Erica explained. "Whenever someone says something stupid they get put on verbal time out for ten minutes."

"And this actually works?" Izzy asked amused.

"Yes, because everyone knows that Michelle and Hanna can and will hurt them if they don't listen." Erica said smiling. "Really the only people that get put on verbal time outs are Jon and Roger."

"That's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time." Izzy said smiling as the door opened and Roger came in with Lucia in his arms followed by Michelle carrying Toni.

"Hey!" Roger said kissing Izzy.

"Here let me take her." Izzy said as she took Lucia so Roger could give everyone a hug. He hugged Hanna before turning towards Jon and Erica.

"Jesus is that really you Erica?" Roger asked smiling as she got up and hugged him.

"The one and only." Erica said laughing.

"I can't believe you and Jon are dating." Roger said laughing as he pulled away from her. He looked at Jon who had yet to utter a word. "Hanna put you on a verbal time out didn't she?" Jon just rolled his eyes as everyone laughed. Michelle put Toni down who ran over to Roger.

"Hey princess there's some people I want you to meet." Roger said bending down to her level.

"Ok." Toni said as Roger pointed to Hanna. "This is my sister Hanna."

"Hi." Hanna said bending down to Toni's level.

"Hi." Toni said shyly as she moved closer.

"And this is my brother Jon and his girlfriend Erica." Roger said.

"Hi Toni." Erica said sitting on the floor next to Toni.

"You have pretty hair." Toni said smiling as she started to pull away from Roger.

"Thank you." Erica said laughing.

"Do you want to play dolls with me?" Toni asked.

"Sure." Erica said smiling as Toni grabbed her hand and led her to her room. Roger laughed and sat down next to Izzy on the couch.

"So what did Jon say to deserve a verbal time out?" Roger asked amused.

"Being stupid." Hanna laughed.

"That's a shocker." Roger laughed.

"Fuck you." Jon said rolling his eyes.

"Jon!" Roger yelled. "Watch your mouth. There are kids in the room."

"Sorry." Jon said.

"You guys are too much." Izzy said laughing as she got up and went into the kitchen.

"So tell me what's been going on with you Hanna?" Roger asked.

"Not much. Going to school and working, that's about it." Hanna said.

"That's good." Roger said. "There's no boys that I need to have a talk with is there?"

"Oh god I get enough of this from Jon." Hanna said rolling her eyes.

"His name is Lucas, he's twenty and he goes to the same college as Hanna." Jon said laughing. "Don't worry I already gave him the talk."

"Good." Roger said laughing as Hanna rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to see if Izzy needs any help in the kitchen." Hanna said as she got up and went into the kitchen. "You need any help?"

"Sure, can you cut the vegetables?" Izzy asked.

"Yeah." Hanna said as she grabbed a knife and started cutting all the vegetables.

"They're really close, aren't they?" Izzy asked as she looked at Roger, Michelle, and Jon sitting in the living room.

"Yeah. They always have been." Hanna said smiling. "Michelle and Jon worshiped him when they were younger."

"How long has it been since they talked?" Izzy asked.

"They've still talked in the last four years but it hasn't been the same. It really took a toll on their relationship when he got mixed up in the drugs." Hanna said looking down at the counter.

"You and Roger seem really close too." Izzy asked trying to lighten the situation.

"We are. I grew up next door and was always over there." Hanna said smiling. "I'm an only child and they kind of became the siblings I never had."

"I'm glad you guys are all reconnecting." Izzy said smiling.

"Me too." Hanna said smiling.

* * *

"Rog, mom and dad want to know if you guys want to have dinner at the house on Sunday." Jon said as they all sat down at the table.

"Do you want to Izzy?" Roger asked looking at her.

"Sure, I think that'd be nice." Izzy said smiling.

"But remember you have to come to church too." Jon said.

"Yeah I remember the routine." Roger said laughing. "God I swore I would never set foot into St. Pat's again."

"That's only because you were so bad when you went to school there." Michelle said laughing.

"You went to a catholic school?" Izzy asked.

"Twelve of the worst years of my life." Roger said shaking his head.

"That's only because you always gave the nuns a hard time." Hanna said laughing.

"I did not!" Roger said.

"Roger they had mom and dad's numbers on speed dial." Michelle said laughing.

"Can we please change the subject? I don't like talking about my incarceration at St. Pat's." Roger said laughing.

"I think it's funny." Izzy said laughing.

"Toni, tell mommy not to make fun of me." Roger said to the little girl.

"Mommy stop making fun of Daddy!" Toni said very seriously.

"Ok baby." Izzy said laughing.

"Chell, what are you going to do about school?" Erica asked.

"I'll take sometime off and then go back." Michelle said looking at her plate.

"What were you in school for?' Izzy asked cautiously.

"Nursing." Michelle said.

"I took a little break after having Toni." Izzy said encouragingly. "You'll be able to go back."

"Thanks." Michelle said smiling.

"When did you decide to go into nursing?" Roger asked. "I thought you always wanted to go into law?" Michelle looked at Jon then Hanna before answering.

"A few years ago." Michelle said quietly as they finished their dinner.

* * *

About an hour later everyone had left. Roger had decided to walk Michelle back to the loft. They walked in silence for most of the way, finally Roger decided to talk.

"You did it because of me, didn't you?" Roger asked quietly.

"Roger, I was a kid. Kids change their minds about what they want to do all the time." Michelle said. "I changed my mind."

"Was it because of my diagnosis?" Roger asked.

"Roger I don't want to talk about it." Michelle said as she kept on walking.

"Chell, I need to know." Roger said as he stopped walking. Michelle stopped but she didn't turn around.

"Fine." Michelle said. "Yes that was the original reason."

"I don't want you giving up something you've wanted to be since you were seven." Roger said. Michelle turned around and slowly walked back to him.

"I'm doing what I want to do." Michelle said. "That's not the only reason I decided to go into nursing. I career shadowed a nurse my senior year and I really loved it. I am doing what I want to do."

"I just don't want you to end up unhappy because of me." Roger said. Michelle pulled him into a hug.

"You were the person that inspired me to go into nursing." Michelle whispered as tears formed in her eyes. "I wanted to help people because of you."

"I love you lil sis." Roger said hugging her tightly.

"I love you too big brother." Michelle said as she pulled away.

"Come on let's get you home." Roger said wrapping an arm around her shoulder. They walked into the loft to find Mark sitting on the couch with a cup of tea.

"Hey Mark." Roger said as they walked in.

"Hey." Mark said setting down his tea. "How was dinner?"

"Good." Michelle said smiling. "Jon only got put on verbal time out once."

"What?" Mark asked confused.

"Roger will explain." Michelle said as she made her way towards her room. "I'm going to change into my pajamas."

"So what's a verbal time out?" Mark asked as Roger sat down next to him.

"It's this thing Hanna and Michelle came up with when they were younger." Roger explained. "If someone says something stupid then they get put on a verbal time out for ten minutes."

"That's funny." Mark said.

"Did you know that Michelle wanted to be a nurse?" Roger asked.

"She mentioned something about nursing school." Mark said. "But we haven't really had a chance to talk a lot."

"She said that it was because of me." Roger said getting teary eyed. "That my diagnosis inspired her to help people."

"That's really amazing Roger." Mark said smiling at his friend.

"She's a really amazing person." Roger said smiling.

"I can tell." Mark said as Michelle walked out of the bedroom.

"So how have you been today Mark?" Michelle asked as she sat down in one of the armchairs.

"Good. Edited some stuff I shot and hung out with Collins." Mark said.

"How is Collins?" Roger asked.

"He's good." Mark said. "He wants to get together sometime next week to introduce Michelle to bohemia."

"No way in hell." Roger said shaking his head.

"Roger, I'm twenty. You can't tell me what I can and can't do." Michelle said laughing.

"Yes I can." Roger said laughing.

"Don't be an ass Roger or I'll tell Izzy all your embarrassing stories from childhood." Michelle threatened.

"Like what?" Roger asked.

"I'll tell her who your first kiss was." Michelle said smirking.

"You wouldn't." Roger said shaking his head.

"Oh I so would." Michelle said laughing.

"Ok now I really want to know." Mark said.

"You tell him and you're dead." Roger said as he looked at his watch. "Shit I should be heading back."

"Ok. I'll give you a call in the morning." Michelle said getting up to hug him goodbye.

"Ok." He said hugging her tight. "Love you lil sis."

"Love you too big brother." Michelle said smiling.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow." Roger said. "Bye Mark."

"By Roger." Mark said as he walked out the door. "Ok now tell me who his first kiss was."

"I can't." Michelle said laughing.

"Please?" Mark asked sweetly.

"Not a chance." Michelle said getting up. "I'm going to head off to bed."

"Ok." Mark said. "But don't think I won't get that information out of you."

"Try your best." Michelle said smiling as she walked into her room.

A/N: Did I just update? And in under a month! Haha. Well I'm finally getting back into the swing of things. I hope you guys liked the chapter. It was fun to write. I'll try updating again within the next couple of days. Remember to review!

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	11. General Hospital And New Loves

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what belongs to Jonathon Larson and what belongs to me. I also do not own General Hospital.

Roger sat at the dining room table drinking his coffee when Izzy walked out of the bedroom.

"Morning." She said yawning.

"Good morning." He said as he got up and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You sleep good?"

"Yes." She said leaning up and kissing him. "Can we talk about something?" She asked leading him over to the couch.

"Sure." He said sitting down next to her. "What do you want to talk about?"

"When was the last time that you slept at the loft?" Izzy asked. Roger thought about it for a minute.

"I think since right before Michelle moved in, so that would be about a month and a half." Roger said.

"I was thinking about making it official." Izzy said smiling. "I mean you already basically live here, why not make it official."

"I like that idea." Roger said leaning in and kissing her. "I'll finish moving the rest of my things out this weekend."

"I don't think you have much left over there." Izzy said laughing.

"I'm sure that Michelle will be thrilled that I get the rest of my junk out of her room." Roger said.

"How's she doing?" Izzy asked as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"She's doing ok." Roger said. "She's just trying to get through it."

"So how's her job coming along?" Izzy asked.

"Really good. She likes working for Joanne." Roger said. "I mean I don't think she thought she'd end up as a receptionist but she likes it."

"That's good." Izzy said. "I was thinking that we could go to your moms house this weekend."

"I'm sure she'd love it." Roger said getting up. "Well I have to go get ready for work, I'll be home around five."

"Ok." She said kissing him. "Mimi should be here soon and then I'll get ready for work."

"Ok." Roger said as he walked into the bathroom. Ten minutes later Izzy heard a knock on the door.

"Hey Meems." Izzy said smiling as she opened the door.

"Hey Izzy." Mimi said as she walked into the apartment. "The girls up yet?"

"No not yet." Izzy said as she walked into the kitchen. "Do you want some coffee?"

"Yes please." Mimi said as she sat down on the couch. A minute later Izzy came out with two cups of coffee.

"So what's new with you?" Izzy asked handing Mimi her cup of coffee. "It seems like forever since we've talked and I see you everyday!"

"I know." Mimi said laughing. "Not much has been happening. Just watching the girls and I've been hanging out a lot with Michelle."

"Has anything happened between you and Mark yet?" Izzy asked smiling.

"We went out on a date." Mimi said. "But it didn't feel right so we decided just to be friends."

"I'm sorry." Izzy said.

"Don't be. It was something that we both felt." Mimi explained.

"I'm sure that you'll find the right guy." Izzy said encouragingly.

"I know." Mimi said smiling. Roger came out of the bathroom drying his hair. He only had a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Oh sorry I didn't know you were here, Meems." Roger said quickly as he rushed into the bedroom. Izzy and Mimi burst out laughing.

"I should be getting ready too." Izzy said. "The girls should be up in a little while."

"Ok." Mimi said as she turned on the TV and Izzy walked into the bedroom.

* * *

Michelle walked into the loft with an armful of groceries, she nearly lost her balance but Mark grabbed one of the bags out of her hands.

"You should be more careful." Mark said as he set the bag on the table.

"Oh god you're starting to sound like one of my brothers." Michelle said rolling her eyes.

"Well you're pregnant, you should be more careful." Mark said as he helped her unload the grocery bags.

"Fine." Michelle said putting away the milk. "I promise to be more careful."

"Good." Mark said smiling. "So what are your plans today?"

"Well I bought a big container of double fudge ice cream and I plane on catching up on what's been happening on GH." Michelle said laughing as she put the milk away.

"That sounds productive." Mark said laughing. "What time does it come on?"

"Three, why?" Michelle asked as they finished putting away the last of the groceries.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come with me while I film." Mark said looking down and praying that he wasn't blushing.

"I wouldn't get in the way?" Michelle asked.

"Not at all. I usually film all sorts of things, it's not like I have any planned shots." Mark explained.

"I'd love to." Michelle said smiling again.

"Ok. Well I was thinking about heading out now." Mark said.

"Well it's a good thing I didn't take off my coat." Michelle said smiling as they walked out the door.

* * *

Roger heard the door open and looked up. He saw Mark and Michelle laughing as they made their way back to the register.

"Hi big brother." Michelle said smiling as Roger walked around the counter to hug her.

"How's it going lil sis?" Roger asked as he pulled away.

"Good." Michelle said smiling. He hadn't seen her smiling like that a long time. "Mark and I went out filming today."

"That sounds like a lot of fun." Roger said rolling his eyes.

"I'll have you know that we had a lot of fun." Michelle said. "Right Mark?"

"Yeah we had a lot of fun Roger." Mark said smiling.

"I'll just have to take your word for it." Roger said. "So what brings you guys by?"

"We were just in the neighborhood and thought that we'd stop by." Michelle said as she started looking at the records. "What time do you get off today?"

"About five." Roger said going back behind the counter. "But I'm thinking of taking Izzy out to dinner."

"That's sounds nice." Michelle said as she picked up a record. "How much is this?"

"I am not letting you buy that." Roger said shaking his head.

"Why not?" Michelle asked.

"Because I had to live through your Prince phase once before I'm not going to let poor Mark go through it now." Roger said.

"Oh come on Roger it wasn't that bad." Michelle said taking the album over to the register.

"It took years for me to get Purple Rain out of my head." Roger said. "I'm not selling you the record."

"Mark, do you have a problem with me buying this?" Michelle asked pointing to the record.

"No, it's fine." Mark said.

"See? Mark doesn't have a problem with it." Michelle said smiling sweetly.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Roger said shaking his head as he put the record in a bag.

"How much do I owe you?" Michelle asked.

"Save your money and buy Mark some ear plugs." Roger said handing her the bag.

"Thank you." Michelle said kissing Roger's cheek. "You are the best big brother."

"I know." Roger said smiling.

"And so modest too!" Michelle said as she looked at the clock. "Oh my god I have to get back to the loft, it's almost three."

"What happens at three?" Roger asked.

"General Hospital comes on!" Michelle said giddily as she headed towards the door. "Are you coming Mark?"

"Yeah." Mark said laughing. "I'll talk to you later Roger."

"Ok." Roger said. "Have fun watching General Hospital!" He said waving as they left the record store.

* * *

"I don't understand how you can watch this stuff." Mark said shaking his head as General Hospital ended.

"What are you talking about?" Michelle asked. "That is some of the finest writing there is."

"Are you kidding me?" Mark asked shocked. "That was so campy and unrealistic."

"That's the point. It's supposed to be like that." Michelle said. "But it's also so romantic!"

"How? They keep breaking up and getting back together and then someone sleeps with someone's brother." Mark said laughing.

"That did not happen!" Michelle said hitting his chest. "And don't you remember how big Luke and Laura were?"

"Yes." Mark said laughing. "Are you even old enough to remember?"

"I'll have you know that I was nine when they got married." Michelle said.

"Oh wow." Mark said rolling his eyes. "Forgive me."

"When did you get to be such a smart ass?" Michelle asked as she took a bite of the ice cream.

"I guess I've been hanging out with your brother for too long." Mark said as leaned back on the couch.

"How long have you guys known each other?" Michelle asked as she tucked her legs under her.

"About six years." Mark said. "I met him when I was twenty, I had just dropped out of Brown."

"Wow. That's a long time." Michelle said. "Do you ever regret dropping out?"

"No." Mark said looking up at her. "I wasn't happy. I would rather be broke and unhappy then rich and miserable."

"You're really lucky to know what you want to do with your life." Michelle said.

"You know what you want to do." Mark said. "You want to go to school to become a nurse. That's a really great career."

"How am I going to do that with a baby?" Michelle asked.

"You'll have help." Mark said sitting up. "You have your family. And you have Izzy, Mimi, Maureen, Joanne, Collins, and me. We'll be there for you."

"But this is my mistake. I shouldn't make your lives more difficult because of my mistake." Michelle said as tears formed in her eyes.

"We're happy to help." Mark said wrapping an arm around her. "Face it, you're stuck with us." Mark said trying to make her laugh.

"Thanks a lot Mark." Michelle said kissing his cheek. "You're the best."

"Anytime." Mark said smiling as they kept staring at each other. Mark slowly leaned in and kissed her. He slowly moved his hand up and caressed the side of her face.

"Mark." Michelle whispered when he pulled away. "We shouldn't… I mean…" Michelle stuttered.

"I shouldn't have done that." Mark said standing up. "I am so sorry."

"It's not that I didn't want to." Michelle said looking up at him. "It's just that things are really complicated."

"I know." Mark said quietly as he looked at his feet.

"I just don't think I should be in a relationship right now." Michelle said softly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Mark said as they slipped into an awkward silence.

"I think I'm going to lay down for a little bit." Michelle said standing up.

"Ok." Mark side moving to the side. "I'll make something to eat when you get up."

"Ok." Michelle said as she walked into the bedroom. Mark fell back into the couch.

"You are such an idiot Cohen." Mark whispered to himself. "God not only is she six years younger than you, but she's also Roger's little sister. Like she needs you trying to put the moves on her." Mark sighed and leaned his head on the back of the couch. "Like she would even want to get involved with a geek like you."

* * *

Mark had fallen asleep on the couch when he woke up to Michelle screaming his name. he immediately jumped up and ran to her bedroom.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he rushed to the side of the bed. She was curled up into a ball and writhing in pain.

"I don't know." She said as tears cascaded down her cheeks. "It hurts." She said as she clutched her stomach. "I think it's the baby." She said as she started to cry harder.

"I'm going to go call the ambulance I'll be right back." He said as he rushed into the living room and prayed to god that everything was ok.

* * *

Roger and Izzy rushed into the waiting room.

"What happened Mark?" Roger demanded as he stood in front of Mark.

"I don't know. I fell asleep on the couch and I woke up when she started screaming my name." Mark said. "I called the ambulance and they brought us here but they haven't told me anything yet." Mark looked like he was about to burst into tears. "I'm so sorry Roger."

"It's ok." Roger said. "Thanks for taking care of her." Roger said as he turned to Izzy. "I'm going to see if I can find anything out."

"Ok." Izzy said as she and Mark sat back down in the chairs. Roger came back a minute later and sat next to them.

"They said that a doctor would be out in a minute to tell us something." Roger said as Izzy wrapped her arms around him. They waited in silence for about ten minutes before a doctor came out.

"I'm looking for the family of Michelle Davis?" The doctor said looking up from his chart.

"That's us." Roger said as they stood up and walked over to the doctor.

"The good news is that your sister is going to be fine, however…" the doctor said.

A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger. The honest truth is that I don't know what I'm doing from here. I can't decide between the two options so I thought that I would leave it as a cliffhanger and see what my readers want. She's either going to have to be on bed rest the rest of her pregnancy or she's going to miscarry. So either leave a review or send me a PM. I just want to thank everyone that has reviewed so far. You guys have been awesome. I'll probably wait a few days to start the next chapter to give the readers time to read it and everything. Remember to review! I love hearing what you think.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	12. Trusting Desire

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. Any chapters you recognize belongs to Jonathon Larson and any characters you don't recognize belong to me.

"However there have been some complications." The doctor said.

"What about the baby?" Mark asked.

"As of right now the baby is fine." The doctor said as Roger, Izzy, and Mark all let out the breath they were holding. "But she's going to be on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy."

"Can we see her?" Roger asked.

"Yes. But only for a little while, I want her to get rest." The doctor said.

"Ok." Roger said. As the doctor lead them back to where Michelle. Roger pulled up a chair next to her bed and gently took her hand.

"Hi." Michelle said opening her eyes.

"You scared the hell out of me." Roger said with tears in his eyes.

"Sorry." Michelle said.

"All that matters is that you get better." Izzy said smiling at her.

"Did you talk to the doctor?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah, he told us about the bed rest." Roger said. "Maybe you should move in with me and Izzy."

"Roger, I'm fine at the loft." Michelle said.

"But you need to have someone around to help." Roger said.

"I'll have more than enough people." Michelle said. "Mark's there. And the loft is like grand central station, someone is always stopping by."

"I just want to make sure that you're ok." Roger said squeezing her hand.

"I'll be fine." Michelle said. "Why don't you guys go home, you should be getting back to the girls."

"I don't want to leave you alone." Roger protested.

"I'll be fine." Michelle said. "You can come back tomorrow."

"But…" Roger started to protest.

"I'll stay." Mark said quietly.

"See? Mark will stay." Michelle said. "Now go home to your little girls."

"I should probably call mom and dad first." Roger said.

"Call them in the morning." Michelle said. "The doctor said I need rest, and there's no way that I'll get that if hurricane Davis blows in here."

"Ok." Roger said standing up. "You better get some rest." He said kissing her forehead.

"I will." Michelle said hugging him. "I love you big brother."

"I love you too." Roger said.

"I'll stop by with the girls tomorrow." Izzy said hugging her.

"Ok." Michelle said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye." Roger and Izzy said as they walked out the door. Mark stood awkwardly by the door.

"You can sit down, I don't bite." Michelle said. Mark laughed as he sat down in the chair by the bed.

"So how do you really feel?" Mark asked.

"A little tired." Michelle said.

"Why don't you try getting some rest?" Mark asked.

"I'm scared to." Michelle whispered.

"Everything is going to be ok." Mark said taking her hand. "I promise." Mark said giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Try to get some sleep." Michelle nodded and closed her eyes but never let go of Mark's hands.

* * *

Collins had decided to stop by and visit Michelle before he went to school that morning. He hadn't spent that much time with her, but in the time he did, he had liked her immediately. He thought it was hilarious that Roger's baby sister could put him in place like that. When Collins got to her room he saw a young woman standing in the doorway.

"Well that's a new development." Collins said as he saw both Michelle and Mark asleep. Mark was resting his head on the side of the bed and holding Michelle's hand.

"Who are you?" The girl asked.

"Tom Collins, a friend of Mark and Roger's." Collins said holding out his hand. "And who might you be?"

"Hanna." She said smiling as she shook his hand. "Michelle's best friend."

"Did you know anything about this?" Collins asked.

"Nothing." Hanna said shaking her head. "How long do you think this has been going on?"

"I don't know." Collins said shaking his head.

"Think we should wake them up?" Hanna said with a slight smirk.

"I like the way you think." Collins said smiling as they went into the room. "Cohen wake up!" Collins said shaking Mark awake.

"What the hell?" Mark asked groggily. "What are you doing here, Collins."

"Came to visit Michelle." Collins said.

"I just want you all to know that I hate you." Michelle said as she opened her eyes.

"You never were a morning person." Hanna said laughing.

"How are you feeling?" Collins asked kissing her cheek.

"A lot better, thank you." Michelle said smiling. "I can't wait to get out of here though."

"Have the doctors told you when you can go home?" Hanna asked.

"Tomorrow." Michelle said.

"Well I hate to leave so soon but I need to get to school." Collins said hugging her goodbye. "Hanna it was nice meeting you."

"You too." Hanna said smiling.

"Mark,can I talk to you for a minute?" Collins asked.

"Sure." Mark said as he hesitantly got up and followed Collins outside. "What's up."

"What's going on between you two?" Collins asked as they made their way towards the elevator.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Mark said as he looked at the ground.

"You are such a bad liar Cohen." Collins said. "You like her don't you?"

"It's nothing Collins." Mark said.

"I see what's going on." Collins said. "You're both scared to get into a relationship because of the baby."

"Among other things." Mark said.

"I say give it a shot." Collins said. "You both deserve to be happy and if that's with each other, then I say you should go for it."

"It's not that simple." Mark said. "She's Roger's baby sister."

"That might be a problem." Collins said. "But if he sees you both happy then I'm sure he'd be fine with it." Collins said giving him a pat on the back. "Besides if you're going to be scared of someone, it should be Jon."

"Not helping." Mark said glaring at him.

"Take a chance, Cohen." Collins said as the elevator doors opened. "I'll talk to you later, and don't worry your secret is safe with me."

* * *

"So?" Hanna asked sitting in the chair Mark had been sitting in.

"So? What?" Michelle asked.

"Don't play dumb." Hanna said rolling her eyes. "What's going on between you and Mark?"

"Nothing." Michelle said looking down at her hands.

"You are such a bad liar." Hanna said laughing. "Especially when you're lying to me."

"Nothing is going to happen." Michelle said.

"Do you want something to happen?" Hanna asked. "And no bullshitting either."

"He's a great guy." Michelle said quietly. "But things are too complicated."

"How?" Hanna asked.

"One, I'm pregnant with someone else's child and two he's Roger's best friend, I'm sure that Roger wouldn't be happy." Michelle said looking up at her.

"I think you need to sit down with Mark and talk about everything." Hanna said. "And Roger will be fine with it."

"You do realize its Roger that we're talking about, right?" Michelle asked with a small laugh.

"He'll be fine." Hanna said. "And if he tries being all over protective, me and Erica will smack some sense into him."

"What about Jon?" Michelle asked.

"Muzzle." Hanna said dryly. Michelle laughed.

"But seriously what if something goes wrong?" Michelle asked. "It could destroy a lot of people."

"You can't worry about the what ifs." Hanna said. "You just have to go with what feels right in your heart and see where it leads you."

"Thanks." Michelle said.

"No problem." Hanna said hugging her. "That's what I'm here for."

* * *

Collins was grading papers when he heard a knock at his door. He looked up and saw Izzy standing there.

"Lunch?" She asked holding up two containers.

"I'm starving." Collins said as he pushed the papers to the side. "So how are you today?"

"I'm doing ok." Izzy said. "I'm going over to the hospital with the girls after work."

"I stopped by this morning." Collins said with a smirk.

"What is that smirk about?" Izzy asked.

"Nothing." Collins said as his smile grew wider.

"Don't give me that." Izzy said. "Tell me."

"What do you know about Mark and Michelle's relationship?" Collins asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Izzy asked shocked.

"Nothing happened." Collins explained. "When I got there this morning they were asleep holding each others hands.'

"Do you think something is going to happen?" Izzy asked.

"I think they're both scared." Collins said. "It's a bit of a tricky situation."

"You mean the baby?" Izzy asked.

"Yes and no." Collins said. "I think Mark is scared because she's Roger's baby sister, he knows that they've always been close and doesn't want to come between that. And Michelle I think is scared because she knows how close Roger and Mark are and wouldn't want something to happen to their relationship."

"Do you think Roger would react that badly?" Izzy asked, she would have thought that he'd be happy that his best friend and sister found happiness.

"Roger's always been protective of the people he cares about." Collins said. "I remember what happened when Michelle's first real boyfriend broke up with her."

"Roger wanted to kill him?" Izzy asked.

"That would be the understatement of the century." Collins said laughing lightly. "Mark had to talk him out of going over their and putting the kid through the wall." Collins looked down at his desk. "The way that Roger sees it is, he's put his family through enough hell to last them a life time and he'll do anything in his power to make sure that they don't get hurt."

"I don't see how Mark and Michelle dating is a problem then." Izzy said. "If they're both happy then he should be thrilled."

"But in Roger's mind he'll think about if something did happen." Collins said. "He'd be hesitant about it."

"Well someone just needs to make him see that this could be a good thing." Izzy said.

"Well nothings happened yet." Collins said. "We'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

Mark came back into Michelle's hospital room with two cups of coffee, he handed one to Hanna before pulling up another chair.

"I didn't know what you like in your coffee so I just got it black." He said as he sipped his coffee.

"Black is fine." Hanna said standing up. "But I should be going. I have to be at work in an hour."

"Thanks for coming." Michelle said as Hanna hugged her.

"It's what I'm here for." Hanna said smiling.

"Tell everyone at work I said hi." Michelle said.

"I will." Hanna said. "I'll call you later."

"Ok." Michelle said as Hanna walked out the door. Mark and Michelle sat in silence for several minutes.

"So are we just going to be awkward around each other from now on?" Michelle asked finally breaking the silence.

"I don't know what to say." Mark said looking down at the floor.

"Why did you kiss me?" Michelle asked quietly.

"Because I wanted to." Mark said looking back up at her.

"You know things are really complicated right now." Michelle said. "If anything happens between us there's a lot of baggage."

"I know." Mark said scooting closer to her. "No matter what happens I'll always be there for you." He said taking her hand. "If this turns into something more or if we just stay friends."

"Are you sure?" Michelle asked. "Because if it were just me that would be one thing, but there's a child involved."

"I wouldn't do anything that would hurt you or the baby." Mark said moving to sit on the bed. "Whatever happens is your decision, I'm not going to push you into something you don't want."

"What if I want something to happen?" She asked quietly.

"Then we'll take things one day at a time." Mark said looking at her in the eyes. "We don't have to rush things."

"Ok." Michelle whispered as Mark slowly leaned in and kissed her.

"Was that ok?" Mark asked resting his forehead against hers.

"Yes." She said quietly. "Should we keep this between us for right now?"

"Probably." Mark said. "Just until we see where this is going."

"Ok." Michelle said smiling. Mark smiled and leaned in again to kiss her. It was a short chase kiss but when he pulled away and sat back down in his chair they both were smiling. What they didn't know was that Erica had seen the kiss.

A/N: I know that I said that I would wait a few more days before I posted this but I talked to a lot of readers and made the decision that Michelle would have the baby. I had people on both sides and they all had valid opinions but I felt it was best option to go with. And as to the relationship with Mark and Michelle, Mark needs some loving too! And I feel that it's a good addition to the story, from now on I think I'm going to switch the focus back and forth between Roger and Izzy and Mark and Michelle. And I know that Maureen and Joanne haven't been around but that is going to change in the next couple chapters. They're going to play a bigger role in the things that happen. I hope that my readers like where this story is going. I have a lot of ideas and I can't wait to write more and get your opinions on it. I would also like to thank everyone who has read this story and everyone that took the time to review, you don't know how amazing it is to hear what you guys think of the story. I'm going to get to work on the next chapter. I'll probably have something up by tomorrow night. Remember to review, I love feed back.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	13. Annie Hall And Demons From The Past

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent.

Erica rushed into the café that Hanna worked at, she saw her standing behind the counter and rushed over to her.

"I need to talk to you right now." Erica said dragging Hanna to the end of the counter.

"What?" Hanna asked annoyed. "If this is about another of your and Jon's fights, I don't want to hear it. You'll be fine in an hour."

"It's not about that." Erica said rolling her eyes. "I saw Michelle and Mark kissing."

"So they took a chance." Hanna said smirking.

"You knew?" Erica asked shocked.

"I knew that there were feelings." Hanna said. "I just found out this morning."

"Don't you think they're playing with fire?" Erica asked.

"If they can be happy together then I think it's a great thing." Hanna said.

"But what about Roger and Jon?" Erica asked.

"Jon and Roger will have to get used to it." Hanna said. "But until Michelle and Mark say something, don't say anything to the two Neanderthals."

"Ok." Erica said nodding her head.

"Now I have to go back to work." Hanna said. "But I'll call you later, ok?"

"Ok." Erica said hugging her. "I'll talk to you later."

* * *

Michelle had been released from the hospital earlier that week, everyone had been stopping by to check up on her and make sure everything was ok. Mark and Michelle were laying in her bed watching TV. Mark had moved the TV in there so she'd have more to do.

"I love this movie." Michelle said as she snuggled closer to him.

"I wouldn't have pegged you as a Woody Allen fan." Mark said as they watched Annie Hall.

"Why not?" Michelle asked looking up at him.

"Because you grew up with Roger and Jon." Mark said smiling down at her. "They strike me as Rambo and Conan people."

"They were." Michelle said laughing. "They used to act out scenes from Conan the Barbarian all the time."

"I can picture that in my head perfectly." Mark said laughing.

"Growing up in the Davis house was always interesting." Michelle said laughing. "Maureen used to hate babysitting us."

"Maureen babysat you?" Mark asked looking down at her.

"Yeah, she grew up around the corner from us." Michelle said. "Didn't you know that?"

"I knew that she grew up by you." Mark said. "Why didn't Roger babysit you?"

"Because Roger and Jon would end up destroying the house." Michelle said laughing. "And my parents thought I could use another girl on my side."

"So was Mo a good babysitter?" Mark asked amused.

"She was great." Michelle said smiling. "For awhile it was like having a big sister."

"What happened?" Mark asked. "I know that when I started dating Mo, she and Roger weren't on the best of terms."

"They got into a big fight half way through their senior year." Michelle said quietly laying her head on his chest. "That's when he started fucking up."

"If you don't want to talk about it, it's ok." Mark said quietly as he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's ok." Michelle said. "I thought you knew."

"Roger doesn't talk much about what happened." Mark said.

"He fell in with a really bad crowd and Maureen tried to get him to see what he was doing, but he didn't listen." Michelle explained. "They were really good friends before that."

"I know they didn't start really getting along until after April." Mark said, he felt Michelle tense at the mention of April.

"Yeah, I remember." Michelle said.

"We don't have to talk about this." Mark said. "I don't want to make you upset."

"It's ok." Michelle said.

"Why don't we talk about a happy memory?" Mark asked. "What's your favorite memory of Mo?"

"That's easy." Michelle said laughing. "Maureen helped me with my Halloween costume when I was ten."

"Why is that your favorite memory?" Mark asked.

"Because she dressed me up as Madonna." Michelle said laughing. "Roger and my parents nearly had a stroke."

"Only Maureen would dress a ten year old up like Madonna." Mark said shaking his head.

"So you've heard about my childhood, tell me something about yours." Michelle said looking up at him.

"What do you want to know?" Mark asked looking down at her.

"I don't know. You said you had a sister, tell me about her." Michelle said.

"Cindy's five years older than me." Mark said. "We get along but we're not that close."

"Why not?" Michelle asked.

"Because she always lived up to my parents expectations and I didn't." Mark said quietly. "I guess I kind of resented her for that."

"What kind of expectations did they have?" Michelle asked.

"I was supposed to be the good Jewish boy that went to Brown and became a lawyer and married a nice Jewish girl from Scarsdale." Mark said rolling his eyes. "Basically we're supposed to be exactly what my parents are."

"So I take it they wouldn't be thrilled with an Irish Catholic girl from Queens?" Michelle asked.

"Not exactly." Mark said. "But what they think doesn't matter." Michelle smiled and leaned up to kiss him.

"You're amazing." Michelle said smiling.

"I have my moments." Mark said smiling. They heard door to the loft slide open and Mark gently slid Michelle off of him. He quickly kissed her before going to the door.

"Hi!" Maureen said brightly as she came into the loft.

"Hey Mo." Mark said. "What are you doing here?"

"Came to visit Michelle." Maureen said as she walked into Michelle's room.

"Hey Mo." Michelle said smiling as Maureen sat on the edge of the bed.

"How are you feeling?" Maureen asked as she hugged her.

"I feel good." Michelle said smiling. "It's good to be home."

"Home?" Maureen asked. "I guess you've really grown to love the loft."

"I have." Michelle said shooting a look at Mark.

"Well I'll leave you two alone." Mark said smiling. "I'll be in my room if you need anything."

"Ok." Maureen said. "See you later."

* * *

"My brother is the biggest idiot ever to walk the earth." Roger said shaking his head as he put down the phone.

"What happened?" Izzy asked as Roger sat down next to her.

"The idiot got arrested." Roger said putting his head in his hands.

"Oh god?" Izzy said. "What did he do?"

"Him and Erica went to a party and they ran into James." Roger said.

"That's Michelle's ex right?" Izzy asked. "He's the father, isn't he?"

"Yeah. He told Michelle he'd pay for an abortion when she told him." Roger said getting angry.

"She's better off without him." Izzy said.

"I know. It's just now he's causing even more trouble for my family." Roger said.

"What happened at the party?" Izzy asked.

"Jon said James needed to be a man and take responsibility for his actions." Roger explained. "Then James said that he shouldn't have to deal with Michelle mistake, especially when he wasn't sure that the kid was his."

"What a heartless son of a bitch." Izzy said.

"Yeah. But Jon being Jon decked the kid." Roger said. "They got in a huge fight and the cops got called."

"Do your parents know?" Izzy asked.

"No, and they're not going to." Roger said standing up. "I'm going to go down and bail him out and my parents don't need to know about this. I put them through enough."

"Roger you were a kid when that happened." Izzy said thinking back to the conversation that she had with Collins the previous week.

"It's just I know I put them through a lot. They don't need part two from Jon." Roger said going to get his jacket.

"I'm not saying that fighting is the right thing to do." Izzy said walking over to him. "But it's understandable that Jon would get angry."

"I know." Roger sighed. "It's just that everyone is so stressed right now. And Michelle doesn't need this."

"I know." Izzy said wrapping her arms around him. "But Roger, you have to stop blaming yourself for the mistakes you made years ago."

"It's hard sometimes." Roger said holding her tighter. "The only way I know how to make it up to them is by making sure they don't get hurt."

"Roger you can't protect everyone all the time." Izzy said looking up at him. "its life, you get hurt sometimes."

"I guess." Roger said hugging her one last time. "I should get going."

"I'll see you later." She said kissing him.

"I love you." Roger said.

"I love you too." Izzy said as he walked out the door.

* * *

Roger was sitting with Erica waiting for them to release Jon.

"It wasn't his fault." Erica said quietly.

"He needs to learn to think before he acts." Roger said.

"Roger you didn't hear the things that he said." Erica said looking at him. "They were horrible."

"I know." Roger said wrapping an arm around her. "I'm not mad. I just don't want to add more stress to everyone's lives."

"Make sure that he knows that." Erica said. "He's scared to death of you."

"I'll talk to him." Roger said as they waited another half hour for Jon to be released. When he walked out, Roger saw that he had a black eye and he was limping.

"Jesus are you ok?" Roger asked standing up and putting an arm around him to support him.

"Yeah I'm fine." Jon said. "You should see the other guy."

"Damn it don't joke about this." Roger snapped. "You could be in a lot of trouble."

"Thanks for the news flash." Jon said pulling away from him as they made their way to the parking lot. "I don't need you telling me that."

"I just bailed you out of jail, I'm allowed to be a little upset." Roger yelled as they stood by Erica's car.

"Like you wouldn't have done the same thing if you were there." Jon yelled back.

"Shut up both of you!" Erica yelled. "You're both going to get arrested if you keep yelling." Roger and Jon didn't say a word as Erica drove Roger back to the apartment. Finally Erica couldn't take the silence anymore and pulled over.

"Baby, what are you doing?" Jon asked.

"I'm not letting either of you out of this car until you start talking." Erica said taking out the keys and opening her door.

"What are you doing?" Roger asked as she got out of the car.

"You two are going to talk." Erica said. "I'm not getting back in until you do. I'm so sick of you're macho 'I'm a guy I don't talk about my feelings bullshit.' Talk!" And with that she slammed the car door.

"She's fucking nuts." Roger muttered in the back seat.

"Yeah I know." Jon said. "Listen, I know that you don't like when I fuck up, but I couldn't let him talk shit about her."

"I know." Roger said. "It just it makes me remember when I was fucking up and calling mom and dad from jail to come bail me out, it's not something I'm proud of."

"But you're not that person anymore." Jon said. "You really are a good person now."

"Thanks." Roger said. He paused before he continued. "You fuck him up?"

"Oh yeah." Jon said with a slight smirk.

"Nice." Roger said nodding. "But don't ever do something like that again."

"Ok." Jon said nodding. Roger rolled down his window and stuck his head out.

"We talked are you happy?" Roger shouted out the window.

"Yes I am." Erica said as she got back in the car.

"Can you please take me home now?" Roger asked.

"I am." Erica said rolling her eyes.

"Let's not mention tonight to anyone." Roger said. "Especially Michelle."

"Ok." Jon said.

"Ok." Erica said as she continued down the road.

A/N: Hope you guys liked this chapter. I wanted to show how Roger still hasn't fully come to terms with all that he did in his past. And I wanted to show Michelle and Mark's growing relationship. Well I'll keep this short. I'll try getting another chapter up tonight. Thanks to everyone that's reviewed. And a special thanks to Renthead621 for once again helping me when I hit a block. You rock! Remember to review, everyone I love hearing what you think.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	14. Finding Love And Losing A Brother

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. I think that we all know that. But I do own any characters that did not appear in Rent, so Izzy, Michelle, Hanna, Jon, and Erica are all mine.

Michelle was in the kitchen making dinner for her and Mark, which was a little bit of a hassle considering that she was seven months pregnant. The doctor had taken her off bed rest two months prior, saying that she still needed plenty of rest and to keep her stress levels down. She smiled as she felt Mark wrap his arms around her and rest his hands on her swollen belly.

"How are you feeling?" Mark asked as he kissed her cheek.

"I fell fine." She said leaning back into him. "Dinner should be ready in an hour."

"Sounds good to me." He said kissing her neck. "What are we having?"

"Pot roast." Michelle said.

"Well it smells wonderful." Mark said smiling down at her. "Come sit down for a little bit, you've been on your feet for too long."

"Ok." Michelle said as she followed him to the couch. As soon as she sat down Mark pulled her close.

"Roger and Izzy are coming over tomorrow for dinner." Mark said as rubbed her belly.

"I know." Michelle said leaning her head back on his chest.

"It means we have to hide from them." Mark said. It had been nearly six months since they began dating and no one but Erica and Hanna knew for sure. Collins had his suspicions but he didn't voice the.

"I know." Michelle said sighing. "I want to tell him, I just don't want him flipping out."

"If we tell him that we've been together for six months and that we love each other, I'm sure he'll be fine with it." Mark tried assuring her.

"And what if he's not?" Michelle asked.

"Are we supposed never tell anyone about us?" Mark asked. He wanted to respect her wishes but it was hard. Roger was his best friend and he wanted him to know how happy he was.

"I just want to wait to after the Daniel is born." Michelle said. They had found out that she was having a boy. They had been overjoyed. They had decided to name him Daniel Roger Jonathan Cohen. Daniel for her father, and Roger and Jonathan after her brothers. The decision to have the baby's last name be Cohen was a recent development. Mark and Michelle had a long talk about his role in the baby's life would be. James had already made it clear he wanted nothing to do with either of them. It had devastated Michelle at first. But Mark had helped her through all of it. He said that no matter what happened between them he would be honored if the baby called him dad.

"Well what's he going to say when he finds out that Daniel's last name is Cohen?" Mark asked.

"Fine, we'll tell them sooner." Michelle said. "Just can we wait a little while longer?"

"Yeah." Mark said sighing. He didn't want to push it. He knew if he pushed it too much it could hurt her or the baby and that would kill Mark. They sat in silence until Michelle suddenly grabbed his hand and put it on her stomach.

"Do you feel that?" She asked smiling up at him.

"Is that?" Mark asked amazed as he felt the baby kicking.

"That's Daniel." Michelle said smiling up at him. "That's our baby."

"Our baby." Mark repeated with a smile. "I like that."

"So do I." Michelle said leaning up to kiss him. "I wish these two months would be over by now."

"Don't worry, he'll be here soon enough." Mark said. "I still have to finish getting his room ready."

"What do you still need to do?" Michelle asked.

"I have to have put the crib together and get Maureen over here to help me decorate it." Mark said. "She said there is no way in hell that any Scorsese posters are going up in his room."

"But I like Scorsese too." Michelle said smiling looking up at him. "I don't think one poster is going to hurt anything."

"This is why I love you." Mark said smiling as he leaned down and kissed her again.

"I'm glad I know how easy it is to get to your heart, Cohen." Michelle said laughing as the timer went off. "Let me up I have to go finish dinner."

"You stay here." Mark said getting up and kissing her forehead. "I'll get it."

"You're the best." Michelle said smiling at him as he made his way towards the kitchen. The phone rang and Michelle got up to get it.

"We screen." She heard Mark call from the kitchen. Michelle rolled her eyes and stood by the phone waiting for the machine to pick up.

"Speak!"

"Hey guys, it's Maureen." Michelle immediately picked up the phone.

"Hi Mo." Michelle said into the phone. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Me and Joanne wanted to know if you would like to come out to dinner with us?" Maureen said.

"I already made dinner, but you two are welcome to join us." Michelle said.

"Are you sure?" Maureen asked.

"Yeah I always make extra, because Mimi or Collins usually stop by too." Michelle said.

"Ok. We'll be there in ten." Maureen said.

"Ok. We'll see you then." Michelle said as she hung up. "I invited Maureen and Joanne over for dinner."

"Now why would you do that?" Mark asked as he brought two plated out and set them on the table that Mrs. Davis had given them.

"Because they're our friends." Michelle said putting her hands on her hips. "Why don't you want them to come over?"

"Because then I can't do this." He said as he gently cupped her face and leaned down to kiss her.

"As much as I love doing that too, I don't think an hour or two without will kill you." Michelle said smiling up at him.

"You never know." Mark pouted.

"Go finish getting dinner. I'm going to go see if Mimi wants to come up and have dinner with us." Michelle said.

"Why?" Mark asked.

"Because I know Mimi hates cooking and if she didn't eat up here then she would be eating take out all the time." Michelle said as she picked up the phone and dialed Mimi's number. "Mimi?"

"Hi Michelle." Mimi said into the phone.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come up and eat dinner with me and Mark?" Michelle asked. "Maureen and Joanne are coming too."

"I would love to but I'm actually going out tonight." Mimi said trying to hold back a grin.

"A date?" Michelle asked excitedly.

"Yes a date." Mimi said. "A friend from the dance studio set us up."

"Well I want to hear all about it when you get back. No matter how late it is." Michelle said excitedly.

"How about I come up tomorrow and we'll have lunch or something." Mimi said.

"Sounds good to me." Michelle said smiling. "Have fun and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ok. You too." Mimi said as they hung up the phone.

"Mimi has a date?" Mark asked as he came back into the living room.

"Apparently so." Michelle said smiling. "I'm so happy for her."

"Me too." Mark said as Maureen came into the apartment.

"I found the cutest thing ever." She said as she held up a bag.

"Oh god." Mark said sitting down.

"Shut up." Maureen said as she set the bag on the table. She pulled out a little teddy bear with a leather jacket and a bandana. "Isn't it precious?"

"It reminds me of Roger and Jon." Michelle said smiling as she picked it up.

"Maureen you didn't have to sprint up here!" Joanne said standing in the doorway.

"Sorry Pookie." Maureen said. "I just go really excited."

"I know." Joanne said kissing her cheek.

"I really do love it Maureen, thank you so much." Michelle said hugging her.

"I can't believe you got her the bear version of Roger and Jon." Mark said shaking his head.

"I think it's cute." Maureen said defensively. "What's wrong with that?"

"I think one Jon and Roger is enough for this world." Mark said standing up. "Lord knows we don't need my son to be the mini version of them." Everyone froze when he said that.

"What did you say?" Joanne finally asked. Mark looked at Michelle panicked.

"Well I guess we're caught." Michelle said looking at the floor.

"You mean you and Mark?" Maureen asked shocked.

"Yeah." Michelle said moving by Mark and holding his hand.

"How long?" Joanne asked.

"Since I was in the hospital." Michelle said.

"That was almost six months ago!" Maureen exclaimed.

"We didn't want to tell anyone at first until we knew what exactly was going on with us." Mark explained.

"What is going on?" Joanne asked.

"We're in love and we want to be together." Mark said wrapping his arms around Michelle.

"Well if you're in love why haven't you told us?" Joanne asked.

"Roger." Michelle said looking down. "He can be a little over protective and we didn't know how he would react."

"The doctor told us to keep her stress down, we thought that might create too much stress." Mark explained.

"When are you planning on telling him?" Maureen asked.

"Soon." Michelle said. "Just not yet."

"Well I'm so happy for the both of you." Maureen said hugging them both. "And don't worry, we won't say anything until your ready."

"Thank you both so much." Michelle said. "You don't know how much this means to us."

"No problem." Maureen said. "Does anyone else know?"

"Hanna and Erica." Michelle said. "I told Hanna and Erica saw us kissing."

"Well we really are happy for you both." Joanne said hugging them. "You both deserve this."

"Thanks Jo." Mark said smiling. "How about we eat now?"

"That sounds like a good idea to me." Joanne said as they sat down.

"So the baby is going to call you dad?" Maureen asked.

"Yes." Mark said smiling as he looked at Michelle.

"And his last name will be Cohen." Michelle said taking his hand.

"So this is pretty serious?" Maureen said.

"Very serious." Michelle said smiling even wider.

"Well this calls for a toast." Maureen said holding her glass of pop in the air. "To Mark and Michelle, may they have a long and happy life with their baby."

"Thank you Maureen." Michelle said wiping tears away. "That was beautiful."

"I meant every word." Maureen said as they ate their meal.

* * *

"Daddy!" Lucia said looking up at Roger holding her arms up.

"Yes princess?" Roger asked picking her up.

"Hungry." She said as she pouted at him. She was quickly learning from her sister all the traits to get Roger to do anything.

"Well what do you want to eat?" Roger asked bringing her into the kitchen with him.

"Cookies!" She said smiling.

"Well that's not a very good breakfast, how about some cereal and then we'll call Auntie Mimi and go see Uncle Mark and Auntie Michelle?"

"Ok." Lucia said smiling as Roger put her in her high chair.

"Toni, come out and eat breakfast." Roger called as he came back to the table with a bowl of cereal.

"Daddy, can we go somewhere today?" Toni asked as she climbed into her chair.

"We're going to go visit Auntie Mimi, Auntie Michelle, and Uncle Mark." Roger said.

"YAY!" Toni said excitedly.

"But first you and Lucia have to eat your breakfast." Roger said sitting down at the table and giving Toni her bowl of cereal.

"Is mommy coming with us?" Toni asked as she ate her cereal.

"If mommy gets up in time." Roger said sipping his coffee. "Mommy's been working really hard lately so we need to let her rest."

"Ok." Toni said nodding. When they were done eating Roger got Toni and Lucia dressed. He was about to write Izzy a note when he heard the bedroom door open.

"Mommy we're going to Auntie Mimi's." Toni said running up to hug her.

"Really?" Izzy asked picking her up. "Well if you want to wait a minute then I'll go with you."

"Ok." Toni said as Izzy put her down.

"Good morning." Roger said walking over and kissing her.

"Good morning." Izzy said wrapping her arms around his neck. "I can't believe that I slept this late."

"You needed the rest." Roger said pulling her closer.

"Well I'm rested now, give me a minute to go get dressed and I'll go with you." Izzy said kissing him one last time before going into the bedroom to get dressed. Roger walked over to where Lucia was playing and picked her up.

"Are you ready to see your Aunties and Uncles?" Roger asked.

"Yes." Lucia said nodding her head up and down. "Can I see baby?"

"The baby is still in Auntie Michelle's tummy." Roger explained as Izzy came out of the bedroom. "But the baby is going to be here really soon."

"I'm ready." Izzy said grabbing her purse.

"Ok." Roger said standing up. "Toni we're leaving."

"Ok." Toni said as she ran out of the bedroom.

"Hold Mommy's hand." Roger said as they walked out the door and made their way towards the loft.

* * *

"So now four people know." Mark said as he and Michelle laid in bed.

"I know." Michelle said smiling at him. "I think maybe we should just have everyone come over tonight. I'm sick of hiding it."

"Are you sure?" Mark asked shocked. He really wanted to tell everyone but if she wasn't completely ok with it he would wait.

"Yes, I'm sure." Michelle said wrapping her arms around his neck. "I want to tell everyone. This isn't something we should hide."

"I can't wait until tonight." Mark said as he leaned down and kissed her.

"Are you nervous?" Michelle asked.

"No. I know that everyone will be happy for us." Mark said as he lay beside her and pulled her closer to him.

"How can you be so sure?" Michelle asked.

"Because they're our family and they'll be happy if we're happy." Mark said as he slowly closed his eyes. "And Maureen already said she'd remove Roger's family jewels if he started trouble."

"What about Jon?" Michelle asked.

"I think she's been wanting to go after Jon for years." Mark said chuckling. "I think she still has nightmares about babysitting him."

'I hope that you're right." Michelle said as they fell back asleep again.

* * *

Roger and Izzy were walking out of Mimi's apartment when they ran into Collins, Hanna, Jon, and Erica.

"What are you guys doing here?" Roger asked hugging all of them.

"Well, we thought that we would come by and visit Michelle." Jon explained as they headed up to the loft. "We ran into Collins outside."

"Maybe we should wait for a little bit." Erica said trying to prevent them from going up there. She had called earlier that morning and neither Mark nor Michelle had answered the phone and they had turned off the answering machine. She didn't want Jon walking in on them kissing or something. But she couldn't talk Jon out of coming.

"They might still be sleeping." Hanna said shooting Collins a look hoping that he would get what was going on. Collins caught on immediately.

"Yeah. Maybe you're right." Collins said. "Why don't we go visit Mimi?"

"We were just there." Izzy said. "She's braiding the girls hair and then bringing them up."

"Believe me you don't want to be there." Roger said laughing as they stood outside the loft.

"How about we go to that Life place you guys love?" Hanna said starting to panic.

"That sounds good, but let's get Michelle and Mark first." Roger said opening the loft door.

"What are you doing?" Erica yelled.

"I'm going to get Michelle and Mark." Roger said looking at her like she was nuts. "What the hell is wrong with you guys today?"

"How about I just go in?" Hanna asked. "That way it's not like a circus going in there."

"Hanna, what's going on?" Jon asked. "You and Erica have been acting weird since I said that I was coming out."

"We just know that Michelle likes her space." Erica said. "We don't want her to get mad and stressed out."

"She'll be fine." Roger said as they opened the loft door. The main area was empty. Roger had started towards Michelle's room when the door opened and Mark stepped out wearing just his boxers and his t-shirt. "What the hell?" Roger yelled as he stormed towards Mark. He felt someone wrap their arms around him and hold him back, he turned around to yell at Collins and saw that it was Jon.

"Calm down." Jon said. Everyone looked at him, they had expected him to fly off the handle too when he found out.

"What do you mean calm down!" Roger yelled. "I want to know what the hell is going on."

"Roger stop it." Izzy said trying to calm him down as Michelle came out of her bedroom.

"Well this isn't how we planned everyone to find out." Michelle said looking at the floor Mark came over and took her hand in his.

"What's going on?" Jon asked still holding Roger back.

"We've been dating for six months." Michelle said looking up. "We didn't want anyone to know at first because we were afraid of this happening."

"How could you?" Roger yelled breaking out of Jon's grip and storming over to Mark. "I trusted you with my baby sister and you took advantage of her?"

"I didn't take advantage of her." Mark yelled back. "I love her!"

"Stop it!" Michelle said as she started to cry.

"I'm sure you love her after only knowing her for six months." Roger yelled.

"You said you loved Izzy after two." Mark yelled right back. "You fucking asshole."

"She's only twenty!" Roger yelled. "She was young and scared and you took advantage of that!"

"Get the hell out." Mark yelled shoving Roger back. "I'm not going to have you come here and upset her." Roger moved to hit him but Jon grabbed him once again and Collins stepped in between them.

"That's enough." Jon yelled. "Roger, sit down." He said shoving him down on the couch. Michelle turned and ran into the bedroom. Hanna and Erica rushed after her, shooting glares at both Roger and Mark.

"See what you've done." Roger spat out.

"You're the one that came over hear and started trouble." Mark yelled.

"I said shut the fuck up." Jon yelled turning to Mark. "Do you love her?"

"Yes." Mark said without hesitation.

"Roger, if she's happy then we should be happy." Jon said trying to stay calm. He couldn't believe that he was the level headed one.

"She was pregnant, lonely and scared." Roger said standing up. "He took advantage of her."

"What exactly did I do that was so wrong?" Mark asked. "Fall in love with her or helping to raise our child?"

"It's not your kid Mark." Roger said. Mark looked like Roger had physically punched him.

"Maybe not my blood, but I'm going to love him just the same, and raise him just the same." Mark said. "And he'll have my last name." Mark turned and went into Michelle's bedroom.

"I'm leaving." Roger said as he stormed out of the apartment.

"I'm going to go after him." Izzy said quietly.

"No don't." Jon said. "He needs to cool off for awhile. You should go check on the girls, I'm sure that they heard that."

"Ok." Izzy said nodding and walking out of the loft.

"I don't think I've ever seen him that angry." Collins said.

"I have." Jon said looking at the floor. "It's been a long time."

"I honestly didn't think he would react that badly." Collins said.

"He's just being overly protective." Jon said. "He'll come to his senses. He just needs some time alone."

"Well from what I hear, you're supposed to be the one that flies off the handle in the Davis family." Collins said trying to make a joke.

"Yeah well, I suspected something." Jon said sitting down.

"Really?" Collins surprised.

"I noticed how happy she seemed since she got here." Jon explained. "And then I noticed that she would light up whenever she was around Mark. It wasn't that hard to spot."

"They really did seem happier." Collins said as Mark walked out of the bedroom.

"She doesn't want me in there." Mark said as he sat down and put his head in his hands.

"Mark, just let her talk to Erica and Hanna for awhile." Jon said. "It's really not you she's mad at."

"Why aren't you trying to kill me right now?" Mark asked looking up at him.

"I can see that you're happy." Jon said. "And if you make each other happy then I say that you should go for it."

"Thanks Jon." Mark said as Maureen stormed into the loft.

"What the hell happened?" She asked.

"Roger found out, he didn't exactly have the best reaction." Collins explained.

"You better not have started any trouble either." Maureen said pouting to Jon.

"I was perfectly fine!" Jon said defending himself.

"He's the one that yelled at Roger." Mark said. "He actually defended us to Roger."

"I'm proud of you Jon." Maureen said. "God, Roger is being such a fucking ass."

"How did you even know what happened?" Jon asked.

"I was on the phone with Mimi, I could hear him yelling while I was on the phone with her." Maureen explained. "I'm going to find him and smack some sense into him."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Collins asked.

"If anyone can talk some sense into him, it'll be Mo." Jon said.

"I'll call you in a little bit. Tell Michelle that I love her and that everything is going to be ok." Maureen said as she walked out the door in search of Roger. It didn't take her that long. The first place she looked was the roof. And sure enough he was standing by the edge looking at the sky.

"We need to talk." Maureen said standing next to him.

"Just go away." Roger said turning away from her.

"I'm not going anywhere until we talk about this and get everything straightened out." Maureen said. Roger sighed and turned towards her.

"Fine say whatever you want to say." Roger said. "I still don't like it."

"You don't have to like it but you're going to accept it." Maureen said.

A/N: I know, you probably hate me for ending it there. But I had to. Number one, this chapter is already twelve pages long and number two it builds suspense for the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed. You've been awesome. I'm sure that some people are upset that I had Roger freak out on Mark and Michelle. But she's his baby sister and he wants to protect her. I promise I'll start working on the next chapter later on today. Well that's all I have for now. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to send me a PM. And remember to review! I love to hear what you think.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	15. Everyone's Fears Come Out

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. I'm pretty sure everyone has figured that out by now.

"Why aren't you happy for them?" Maureen asked. She wasn't going to beat around the bush on this. She needed to make him understand that Mark and Michelle are in love and fast. She didn't want this to cause Michelle more stress and send her into labor.

"She's going to end up getting hurt again." Roger huffed. "She's young and Mark should know better. She was vulnerable."

"She's twenty, Roger." Maureen said calmly. "She's old enough to make her own decisions."

"She's too young for him." Roger said.

"You do realize that you and Mimi are six years apart, that's exactly how far apart Michelle and Mark are." Maureen said.

"That was different." Roger explained. "And look what happened to Mimi and me?"

"Do you regret that things didn't work out?" Maureen asked.

'No, I met Izzy and I love her." Roger said.

"You don't know that Michelle and Mark won't work, right now they're in love and you should be happy for them." Maureen said.

"If he hurts her, I'll kill him." Roger said.

"But he hasn't hurt her." Maureen said. "They've been together for six months, have you ever seen her more happy then she is right now?"

"No." Roger said.

"Then be happy for them." Maureen said. "And be happy that your best friend finally go the happiness he deserves. Mark's been alone for so long because he was too wrapped up in dealing with everyone else's problems." Roger sat down with his back against the wall.

"I really fucked up, didn't I?" Roger asked as he put his head in his hands.

"Yes." Maureen said sitting next to him. "But you can go apologize and make everything right."

"Do you think the girls heard me yelling?" Roger asked looking up with tears in his eyes.

"I heard you and I was on the phone with Mimi." Maureen said.

"I'm turning into him." Roger said as he buried his face in his hands again.

"No your not!" Maureen yelled. "You are nothing like that bastard."

"I'm turning into to my father." Roger said as he cried.

"I want you to listen to me Roger." Maureen said forcing him to look at her. "Daniel Davis is your father. He's the man that has raised you since you were five. That's the man that you are becoming. Jeffery Smith is _not_ your father. Don't you ever confuse those two again."

"You remember when he showed up senior year?" Roger asked. "I probably sounded just like him."

"Roger, I was there. You didn't sound like him." Maureen said pulling him into a hug. "Yes you got angry and lost your temper, but that doesn't mean that you are that poor excuse of a man. You are such a good person."

"Thanks Mo." Roger said pulling away. "You're a great friend."

"So are you." Maureen said standing up. "Now come on. You have to go apologize to Michelle and Mark."

"And Izzy." Roger said as they made their way down to the loft.

"She wasn't made." Maureen said.

"I still need to apologize to her." He said as they walked into the loft. Mark, Collins, and Jon were still sitting in the living room, only Mark was now dresses.

"Everything ok now?" Collins asked.

"Yeah." Roger said. "Mark do you think I could talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure." Mark said hesitantly. "Why don't we go out in the hallway?"

"Ok." Roger aid as he followed Mark out into the hallway. "I'm really sorry about that."

"You should be." Mark said. He wasn't going to make this easy on him. "She needs to keep out of stressful situations, and that scene back there wasn't necessary."

"I know." Roger said looking at the ground. "I just, it was just a shock seeing you together. And in my twisted mind, I immediately thought of all the bad things that could happen. I just don't want her to get hurt again." Roger said looking back up. "I don't want you to get hurt again either."

"I'm not going to hurt her." Mark said. "I love her so much, I could never do that to her."

"I know that now." Roger said. "I'm happy for you both, I really am. I promise that I'll never do that again."

"I know." Mark said. "I'm glad that you are ok with us being together."

"I am." Roger said. "But if you hurt her, I'll forget that I consider you a brother."

"I know." Mark said smiling.

"I think I'm going to go in and apologize to her." Roger said.

"Ok." Mark said as they made their way back into the loft. Roger slowly went over to Michelle's door and knocked on it softly. Erica opened the door and looked at Roger with such anger he thought she was going to burn a hole in him.

"Can I talk to Michelle for a minute?" Roger asked avoiding her gaze.

"Depends, are you going to keep the temper in check?" Erica asked with her hands on her hip.

"Yes." Roger answered quietly. Erica moved to the side and Roger stepped into the room.

"Talk to him." Hanna whispered as she hugged Michelle. She glared at Roger as she walked by. She pinched his arm.

"OW." Roger yelled grabbing his arm.

"Oh that's going to be the least pain I inflict on you if you don't grow up." Hanna said glaring at him as she walked out the door.

"I'm sorry about before." Roger said looking at the ground. "I was completely out of line and I'm so sorry."

"He isn't taking advantage of me." Michelle said quietly. "He's done nothing but be there for me since the moment I got here."

"I know." Roger said. "I just wasn't expecting that, it caught me off guard."

"I love him." Michelle said quietly still not looking at him. "It's different right now." Roger slowly walked over to the bed and sat down next to her.

"I know that now." Roger said. "And I'm so sorry for what happened."

"It's ok." Michelle said finally looking up at him.

"No it's not but I promise to make it up to you." Roger said leaning in and pulling her into a hug. "I promise."

"Ok." Michelle said as she hugged him back.

* * *

"So is everything ok?" Maureen asked as Roger and Michelle came out of the bedroom.

"Yeah." Roger said as Michelle sat on the couch next to Mark. He saw the way that she lit up when he took her hand in his.

"I'm going to go call Izzy." Roger said walking over to the phone.

"See? Everything's ok now." Maureen said smiling at the couple.

"Yeah." Michelle said smiling. "Since everyone's here why don't we go to The Life for breakfast?"

"Are you sure?" Erica asked. "The doctor told you to take it easy."

"I will be taking it easy." Michelle said rolling her eyes. "Besides if I don't get out of this loft I'm going to kill someone."

"Izzy and Mimi are bringing up the girls right now." Roger said as he joined the group.

"We're going out to breakfast, are you and the girls coming?" Michelle asked.

"Sure." Roger said. "Are you sure you should be going out?"

"Yes." Michelle said getting up. "I'm pregnant, not a china doll." Michelle said as she stormed into the bedroom.

"Ok that wasn't my fault." Roger said as Mark got up.

"It's just the hormones." Mark said. "I'm going to go see if she's alright." he continued as he went into the bedroom. "Michelle, are you OK?"

"I'm so sick of my brothers treating me like I'm this fragile little doll. I'm stronger then they think I am." she said sitting on the bed.

"Yes you are. And they'll realize that. But they're just worried that you might be pushing yourself a little bit." he said putting his arms around her.

"I'm not pushing myself Mark." Michelle said pulling back. "Do you think I'm pushing myself?"

"The truth?" he asked as she nodded. "Maybe a little bit." he said playing with her hair.

"I'm just so sick of being in this loft. I wanna get out and feel human again." she said looking over at him.

"Yeah, but you have to think about the baby. You just had a lot of stress. Do you think you should be going out and hanging out at the Life Cafe?" he asked looking over at her.

"I'm going insane in this loft." Michelle said starting cry. "It's starting to become like a prison."

"It's only two more months." Mark said wrapping his arms around her. "Then we'll have our beautiful little boy and you can start going out."

"I know." Michelle said pulling away and wiping her eyes.

"You just have to get through these next two months." Mark said gently wiping the remaining tears away.

"Come on let's get back out there." Michelle said standing up. Mark nodded and got up and wrapped his arms around her.

"I love you." Mark whispered.

"I love you too." Michelle said as he kissed her. They were interrupted by someone yelling.

"What now?" Mark groaned as he pulled away. Michelle just smiled as they walked out into the living room. Roger was sitting on the couch while Hanna pinched him.

"I said I was sorry!" Roger said as he tried to protective himself.

"I don't care." Hanna said hitting him with a pillow. "God, Jon was actually levelheaded. Do you realize what an oximoron that is?"

"Hanna!" Michelle yelled and everyone stopped. "It's ok, he apologized."

"But I still needed to yell at him." Hanna said sitting down.

"I'm going to have bruises." Roger said rubbing his arms.

"Oh poor baby." Hanna said as Izzy, Mimi, and the girls came up.

"That can't be Toni!" Michelle said as the little girl climbed up next to her.

"It is!" Toni said excitedly.

"You just keep getting so big!" Michelle said.

"So do you!" Toni exclaimed as everyone laughed.

"Toni! Don't say that!" Izzy said trying to hold back her laughter.

"It's ok." Michelle said laughing. "So who's going to get the food? I'm starving."

"I will." Roger said standing up.

"I'll go with you." Izzy said.

"Ok, we'll be back in a little bit." Roger said. "Can the girls stay here?"

"Yeah that's fine." Mimi said smiling.

"Ok. See you guys in a little bit." Izzy said as they walked out the door.

"I'm really sorry about earlier." Roger said as they walked down the steps. "I was completely out of line."

"It's ok." Izzy said as they walked towards the Life.

"No it's not ok." Roger said. "But I promise that it will never happen again."

"I believe you." Izzy said stopping and wrapping her arms around his waste.

"How did I get so lucky to find you?" Roger asked looking down at her.

"We both go lucky." Izzy said leaning up and kissing him. "Now let's hurry up and get the food before Michelle kills someone."

"Ok." Roger said laughing as they started walking again.

A/N: I hope you guys liked that chapter. Everyone worked everything out, that's always good. Next up is the return of Mrs. Boscerelli and Mrs. Cohen will pop up and make Michelle's life difficult. I'm going to start writing the next chapter tonight, but I don't know when I'll be able to finish it. Tomorrow is St. Patty's day so I defiantly won't finish it tomorrow. Thanks once again to Renthead621 for writing a bit of this chapter when I hit a block. You rock! Everyone remember to review!

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	16. The Jewish Inquisition

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. I think that is sort of obvious.

"Mimi please come up." Michelle said franticly into the phone.

"What's wrong?" Mimi asked panicking.

"Mrs. Cohen is going to be here and I need help getting everything ready." Michelle said sounding like she was going to cry.

"I'll be right up." Mimi said as she hung up the phone and ran out of her apartment. When she got to the loft Michelle was standing there in tears. "Sweetie what's wrong?"

"She's going to hate me." Michelle said as she started to cry. Mimi rushed over to her and wrapped her arms around her.

"She is not going to hate you." Mimi said trying to calm her down. "Why would you think that?"

"I've heard the stories about when Maureen was dating Mark." Michelle said crying harder.

"Ok, let's sit down first." Mimi said as she guided her over to the couch. "Now first off think about some of the crazy things that Maureen does, she's a bit much for some people."

"What if she hates me too?" Michelle cried. "I don't want to come between Mark and his family."

"Honey they are not going to hate you." Mimi insisted. "And if you haven't noticed, Mark isn't that close with them anyway."

"That's not helping me." Michelle said as Mimi laughed.

"Sweetie they are going to love you." Mimi said giving her one last squeeze. "You're just hormonal right now."

"I just want everything to go ok." Michelle said pulling away and wiping her eyes as Mark walked into the house.

"What's wrong?" He asked sitting down next to Michelle.

"Nothing." Michelle said trying to hide the fact that she was crying.

"She's worried about meeting your mother." Mimi said standing up. "Give me a call later." She said as she left.

"Are you really that scared of meeting my mother?" Mark asked.

"I've heard the stories of your mother." Michelle said. "You even said it yourself that she wasn't going to be thrilled about me being an Irish Catholic from Queens."

"She's going to love you." Mark said. "She's been dying to meet you since I told her about you."

"That was last week." Michelle said. "And I heard her yelling over the phone."

"She's was just a little surprised." Mark said wrapping his arms around her. "I mean in one phone call she found out that we were dating and that we were going to have a baby. She just needed sometime to let it all sink in."

"But what if" Michelle started to say before Mark cut her off.

"No what ifs." Mark said. "Thinking like that will only stress you out and that's not good for you or the baby."

"What would I do without you?" Michelle asked smiling.

"Well you're not going to find out, so let's not talk about it." Mark said as he leaned in a kissed her. "Why don't you rest for a little bit and I'll come get you when they get here?"

"What time are they supposed to get here?" Michelle asked.

"Not for another two hours." Mark said brushing a piece of hair out of her face.

"Will you come lay down with me for a little bit?" Michelle asked.

"Sure." Mark said smiling as he got up and gently pulled her up with him.

"Do you really think your mother is going to like me?" Michelle asked as they laid down on their bed.

"They'll love you." Mark said wrapping his arms around her. "I promise." He said as they drifted asleep.

* * *

"Aren't they so cute?" Mark heard someone whisper. He opened his eyes and saw his sister and his brother in law standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" Mark asked gently climbing out of bed.

"Meeting you, like you asked us too." Cindy said laughing. "Are you going to wake her up?"

"I'll let her sleep for a few more minutes." Mark said as he shut the door behind them. "She hasn't been sleeping well at night."

"It's probably because she's due soon." Cindy said as she hugged Mark. "How are you?"

"I couldn't be better." Mark said smiling as he shook Peter, Cindy's husband's hand.

"You look really happy." Peter said as they sat down.

"I am." Mark said smiling as they sat down on the couch. "Where are the kids?"

"They're at my parents house." Peter said. "Thought it would make the situation a little less chaotic."

"Well next time you come out you'll have to bring them." Mark said. "Michelle really wants to meet them."

"So tell us about Michelle." Cindy asked smiling. She couldn't remember the last time that she had seen her brother this happy. He seemed to have a glow about him.

"She's twenty, she grew up in Queens, after the baby's born she's going back to school for nursing." Mark said with a smile.

"Who else do you know from Queens?" Cindy asked.

"Roger's from Queens." Mark said. "He's her older brother."

"Wow." Cindy said. "He's ok with this?"

"It took him by surprise at first, but he's fine with it now." Mark said.

"So tell us how you met?" Peter asked. Mark paused for a moment.

"Well she wanted to get out of Queens and she needed somewhere to stay. And since Roger was basically unofficially at Izzy's, Michelle took his old room. And everything just sort of happened after that." Mark said.

"We're really happy for you." Cindy said smiling as Michelle walked out of the bedroom.

"Mark why didn't you wake me up?" Michelle asked standing in the doorway to the bedroom.

"I thought you could use a few more minutes of sleep." Mark said getting up and walking over to her. "Ok so I'd like you to meet my sister Cindy and my brother in law Peter."

"It's nice to meet you." Michelle said smiling.

"It's wonderful to meet you." Cindy said giving her the biggest hug possible with Michelle being seven and half months pregnant. "Come on and tell me about yourself." Cindy said leading her to the couch.

"Well what do you want to know?" Michelle asked.

"Well what was it like growing up in Queens?" Cindy asked.

"Well, it was kind of chaotic." Michelle explained. "I mean with Roger and Jon there was never a dull moment."

"I can imagine. It must have been hard being the only girl." Cindy said.

"Not really, my best friend Hanna is sort of the adopted sister and Jon's girlfriend Erica is the other one. So really it's the boys who are outnumbered." Michelle said laughing.

"Seems like you guys are all really close." Cindy said smiling. "I take it everyone is happy that they are going to be aunts and uncles?"

"Yeah." Michelle said smiling. "Jon keeps telling me that I should name the baby after him, while Erica and Hanna are fighting over who gets to spoil the baby more."

"That's cute." Peter said.

"I'm pretty sure that between the two families this baby is going to be one of the most spoiled babies in the world." Cindy said.

"You have no idea." Mark said laughing. "You should have been there when Joanne got her credit card bill. I didn't know someone could spend that much at the baby Gap."

"Maureen was in so much trouble for that." Michelle said laughing.

"You're friends with Maureen?" Cindy asked Michelle.

"Actually she's from the neighborhood." Michelle explained. "She used to babysit me when I was little."

"I guess it's really a small world." Cindy said.

"You're telling me." Michelle said as the phone rang. They heard Mrs. Cohen's voice and Mark got up and went down to go get his parents. Michelle visibly tensed.

"You'll be fine." Cindy said placing her hand over hers. "Just remember that while she comes across as overbearing she means well." Michelle nodded as Mark came back into the room. Michelle tried getting up as Mrs. Cohen walked over to her.

"Oh you don't have to get up for me." Mrs. Cohen said laughing. "Believe me I remember what it's like being pregnant." She said as she hugged her. "It's so good to meet you dear."

"You too." Michelle said as they pulled away.

"I'm Ethel and that's my husband David." Mrs. Cohen said as she sat down next to her.

"It's really nice to meet both of you." Michelle said as everyone sat down again.

"So I've tell me about yourself, Michelle." Mrs. Cohen said. "I know that you're twenty and from Queens but nothing else."

"What would you want to know?" Michelle asked.

"Do you have any siblings?" Mrs. Cohen asked.

"Two older brothers. Roger is eight years older and Jon is a year younger." Michelle explained. "And then my best friends Hanna and Erica are basically like my sisters."

"What made you decide to move?" Mrs. Cohen asked. Michelle was quiet a moment before she answered.

"I decided I needed to take a break from Queens and moving here seemed like the best decision. I could still be close to my family."

"So you're pretty close with them?" Mrs. Cohen asked.

"Yeah. They're the best. Even if they can be a tad on the overprotective side." Michelle said.

"That's nice." Mrs. Cohen said. "So when is the wedding going to be?" Everyone in the room went silent.

"What are you talking about?" Mark asked.

"Well you are going to have a child, it's only natural that you get married." Mrs. Cohen said.

"We're not quite ready to get married yet." Mark said.

"But you should be married when the baby is born." Mrs. Cohen said.

"Just drop it mom, we've talked about it and we're going to wait." Mark said getting agitated.

"Fine." Mrs. Cohen said rather annoyed.

"So Michelle's going to be a nurse, isn't that great?" Cindy said trying to change the subject.

"Really?" Mrs. Cohen asked.

"Yes, after the baby is born I'm going to go back to school and finish my nursing degree." Michelle said smiling slightly.

"That sounds wonderful." Mr. Cohen said smiling.

"You're not going to stay home with the baby?" Mrs. Cohen asked.

"I will for a little bit." Michelle said shifting uncomfortably.

"Who will watch the baby when you're at school." Mrs. Cohen asked.

"My friend Mimi baby-sits my nieces, and my mother is retiring at the end of the year so I'm sure that she could do it from time to time." Michelle explained.

"Sounds like you have everything worked out." Cindy said smiling. After another hour Mr. and Mrs. Cohen decided to call it a night.

"Come out and visit us soon. You're always welcome at our house." Mrs. Cohen said kissing Michelle's cheek.

"Thank you." Michelle said smiling.

"We should get going too." Cindy said getting up and hugging Michelle. "I'm really glad that you're part of the family now. I don't think there's another person that I would rather have as my sister then you."

"That means a lot." Michelle whispered as she tried to hold back tears.

"I'll give you a call sometime this week. I'd like to hang out and get to know you better." Cindy said smiling.

"Me too." Michelle said smiling back.

"You take care of this little lady or you'll have me to deal with." Peter said smiling.

"Get in line." Mark said laughing.

"Bye." Cindy and Peter said as they walked out the door.

"How are you feeling?" Mark asked as he sat down on the couch next to her.

"I love your family." Michelle said smiling.

"Even my mother?" Mark asked laughing.

"She might take some getting used to." Michelle said laying her head on his shoulder.

"She usually does." Mark said laughing. "So what do you want to do now?"

"I think I might go to bed. I feel like I've just been put through the Spanish Inquisition." Michelle said as Mark helped her up.

"No you were just put through the Jewish Inquisition." Mark said laughing.

"You are so bad." Michelle said laughing as she hit his chest.

"And that's why you love me." Mark said wrapping his arms around her and kissing the top of her head.

"One of the many reasons." Michelle said smiling up at him.

"Come on let's get to bed." Mark said as he led her into their bedroom.

A/N: No your eyes are not playing tricks on you, I really did update. I know you all are probably ready to tar and feather me right now for not updating in forever. But life has been a royal bitch. I just graduated and there was a lot going on. Plus two of my best friends are leaving me to move across the country and I'm trying to spend as much time as possible before they leave me. I don't know what I'm going to do without them. I'm about to start working on the next chapter of Time Flies. I have no idea when I'm going to be able to get that up. Hopefully soon. Right now is the busy time at work so I don't have a lot of spare time. But I hope you guys will stick with me. I can't wait to hear what you all think. Remember I love reviews.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	17. Andrew McCarthy

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. I think we all understand that.

Roger woke up to someone kissing his cheek, when he opened his eyes Izzy was smiling down at him.

"Morning." He said smiling and wrapping his arms around her.

"Good morning." Izzy said leaning down and kissing him. "What are your plans today?"

"I was thinking of going over to the loft today, Jon, Hanna, and Erica are going to stop by today I figured that we could hang out." Roger said.

"I'm going to take the kids to Mickey's later on, but we'll come to the loft after words." Izzy said. Before Roger had a chance to respond Toni and Lucia came bursting in to the room.

"Mommy, Daddy!" They both screamed as they climbed onto the bed.

"How are my favorite princess' today?" Roger asked pulling both girls into a hug.

"Good." Toni said. "Can we go visit Autnie Michelle and Uncle Mark today?"

"We're going to visit Aunt Mickey first and then we're going to go there." Izzy said getting out of bed.

"Come on girls let's get you ready." Roger said climbing out of bed while the girls followed.

* * *

Michelle, Erica, and Hanna were sitting on the couch in the loft watching a movie.

"Why can't life be like a Molly Ringwald movie?" Michelle asked eating another bite of ice cream. "I want my life to be like Pretty in Pink."

"Don't we all." Erica sighed and munched on some popcorn.

"I want a boyfriend like Andrew McCarthy." Hanna said as she grabbed a brownie.

"I love Andrew McCarthy, why can't we get guys like him?" Michelle asked as Roger walked in to the loft.

"Hey." He said smiling and walking over to them. "What are you watching?"

"Pretty in Pink." Michelle said smiling not taking her eyes off the TV.

"That movie was so lame." Roger said rolling his eyes.

"You are such an ass!" Erica yelled throwing a pillow at him. "Why don't you go hang out with the other two idiots?"

"Where are they?" Roger asked rolling his eyes again. He really shouldn't have been suprised by the way they were acting. When they were younger they used to worship those cheesy eighties movies. And heaven help you if you made fun of them.

"They're in the baby's room." Hanna said waving him away. Roger shook his head and walked into the where Jon and Mark were.

"They're all nuts." Roger said shaking his head.

"At least you didn't get a remote chucked at your head." Jon said rubbing his head.

"That's because you said that Andrew McCarthy was an ugly pansy." Mark said laughing.

"So what are you guys doing in here?" Roger said sitting on the floor next to the crib.

"Hiding and talking." Jon said. "Telling Mark some stories about when we were growing up."

"So Maureen was your first kiss?" Mark teased. Roger's face turned a lovely shade of pink that Mark couldn't help but laugh at.

"I'm going to fucking kill you." Roger said to Jon.

"I didn't know it was some secret." Jon said shrugging. "Besides it's not like you lost your virginity to her, that was to" Before he could finish Roger tackled him.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence." Roger said as they wrestled around.

"What are you idiots doing in here?" Hanna asked standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

"Jesus we're just messing around, no need to get all hormonal on me." Jon said rolling his eyes. "God, are you sure you're no pregnant?"

"Bad move Jon." Roger said as he jumped away from Jon as Hanna came towards Jon.

"You are such a jerk!" Hanna said hitting him in the arm.

"Ow, shit, stop that!" Jon said getting up and running behind Mark.

"Hanna, let's calm down." Mark said trying not to laugh. "It was just a joke."

"I guess you're right." Hanna said with her hands on her hips. "But don't think this is over yet, big brother." She said looking at Jon before she left the room.

"I've never seen Hanna give up on attacking Jon like that before." Roger said laughing.

"Mark's been able to tame the beast!" Jon said throwing his fist in the air.

"Let her hear you say that and see what happens then." Mark said shaking his head and laughing and walking out of the room. Hanna was in the kitchen getting more food, while Erica and Michelle were still sitting on the couch.

"What are we going to do about dinner tonight?" Michelle asked as Mark sat down next to her on the couch.

"Depends, who is actually eating here?" Mark asked looking around at the group.

"I am." Hanna said walking back into the living room.

"So are we." Erica said.

"Izzy and the girls will be here in a little bit." Roger said laughing.

"Well in that case, how about we call the rest of the group and then someone go and pick up food from the Life." Mark said laughing.

"Well I'll go call everyone, who wants to go pick up the food?" Roger asked going to the phone.

"Jon and I will go." Erica said standing up.

"But I don't want to go baby." Jon whined.

"Jon, get up now." Erica said rolling her eyes. "We'll be back in a little bit." She said as she pulled Jon out the door with her.

"So guess what I found Jon with yesterday?" Hanna asked as she came back in the living room and sat down.

"What?" Roger asked.

"He got an engagement ring for Erica." Hanna said smiling.

"Holy shit." Roger said laughing. "So how long do you think it'll take him to actually ask her?"

"Well it took him about three months to actually ask her out on a date, so I give him four months." Hanna said laughing.

"What took him so long?" Mark asked playing with a strand of Michelle's hair.

"Probably Hanna and Michelle." Roger said laughing. "If one of them didn't approve of a boyfriend then he was gone before he could even blink."

"But weren't you guys happy that she was going to date your brother?" Mark asked looking to Michelle then Hanna.

"Are you kidding me?" Hanna asked laughing. "Jon got it worse then any other guys who tried dating her."

"That is such a lie." Michelle said laughing. "We never threatened to remove his kneecaps like the others."

"You're kidding me?" Mark asked wide eyed.

"I'm telling you they were evil little things." Roger said laughing. Roger could be very indimadating when he wanted to be, but Hanna, Michelle, and Erica were vicous when it came to guys dating the others. They would smile sweetly as they told you just how they would dismember your body and hide if you hurt their friend.

"Just remember never to hurt Michelle and you won't have to worry about anything." Hanna said winking at Mark. Michelle yawned and rested her head against Mark's shoulder.

"I think you should lie down before the circus arrives." Mark said smiling down at her.

"Come with me?" Michelle asked looking up at him.

"Sure." Mark said standing up and helping Michelle to her feet. "Come get us when everyone gets here." He said before they made their way into the bedroom. Hanna came back out of the kitchen and sat down.

"So what's new with you?" Roger asked as he put his feet up on the table.

"Not much. Work and school are pretty much it." Hanna said taking a sip of her drink.

"What about that boyfriend of yours?" Roger asked. "Are you ever planning on bringing him around and meeting us?"

"I'm not hiding him." Hanna said. "Jon, Erica, and Michelle have met him."

"You're hiding him from me." Roger said. "I just want to meet him.

"You'll meet him soon, I promise." Hanna said smiling. "I'll try bringing him by this weekend."

"Good, he needs to know how things work around here." Roger said with a completely straight face.

"I swear sometimes I think you want me to be an old spinster." Hanna said rolling her eyes.

"I just want to make sure that you are being treated right and that this guy knows that if he hurts you this world is not a big enough place for him to hide." Roger said standing up and sitting down next to her and wrapping an arm around her. "Face it, you signed up for this the day that you became the second Davis daughter."

"I guess I'll juts have to deal with it." Hanna sighed dramatically. "So now that we've discussed my love life what's going on with you and Izzy?"

"Way to change the subject." Roger chuckled. "Everything is going great. She's amazing, I didn't think I'd ever find someone like her. She's intelligent, beautiful, and caring."

"Then what the hell is she doing with you?" Hanna asked laughing.

"You are not funny." Roger said pretending to pout.

"So do you think you're ready for the next step?" Hanna asked. "I mean you basically act liked you're married, why not make it official."

"I don't want to rush her." Roger explained. "I mean she's had to deal with a lot and I just want to be sure that she's ready for it. I don't want to scare her."

"Roger you've been together for over a year." Hanna said looking up at him. "The girls call you their dad. And all that stuff that happened before with her ex is in the past. I think that she would love the idea of being married." Hanna said smiling. "You're a really great guy Roger, she knows that."

"I'll think about it, just don't start getting the wedding planner just yet." Roger said. "And besides if Jon does get the nerve to ask Erica to marry him, I don't want to steal their thunder."

"You wouldn't." Hanna said. "You know how they are, the second he asks her they'll probably jump on a plane and get married in Vegas."

"Mom would murder them both." Roger said laughing thinking about how his mother loved to plan big parties. She'd not so secretly been plotting all of their weddings for years, Hanna included.

"And that's the biggest reason they would do it, they would know that Mama Davis would make it some big thing, and that's not really who they are. They would just want me, you and Michelle there." Hanna said. "And if you and Izzy do get engaged that would give you're mother the wedding she's always wanted to plan."

"So basically you just want me to be the diversion?" Roger asked quirking his eyebrows.

"Maybe a little. But is still comes down to the fact that you and Izzy are perfect for each other." Hanna said. "I've never seen you as happy as when you are with Izzy and the girls and I think that is something that we should all celebrate."

"I guess I have some things to think about, don't I?" Roger said smiling.

"That you do." Hanna said as the loft door opened and Mimi and Collins walked in.

"Hi." Mimi said smiling brightly and sitting down in one of the chairs. "What are you guys up to?"

"Not much." Hanna said smiling. After hanging around the group for the last couple months she really grew to like all of them, but she became especially fond of Mimi. Mimi was almost as protective of Roger and Michelle as she was. It was nice knowing that there was someone else looking out for them when she couldn't be around.

"We're waiting for Jon and Erica to get back with the food." Roger said putting his feet up on the table. "We were going to call you guys later and tell you to come over."

"Awesome." Mimi said smiling. "Where are Mark and Michelle?"

"Taking a nap." Hanna said smiling. "We'll wake them up when everyone gets back."

"Michelle's water broke." Mark yelled hurrying out of his bedroom. In a flash everyone was in Mark and Michelle's room. Hanna and Mimi were the first one's to make it there.

"Are you ok?" Hanna asked sitting down next to Michelle who was sitting on the edge of the bed clutching her stomach. Michelle gave her a look. "Alright, that wasn't the smartest thing to ask."

"What do you need us to do?" Mimi asked.

"Get my suitcase out of the closet." Michelle said before taking a deep breathe. "and help me into the living room." Hanna stood up and helped Michelle up. Roger and Collins took over for her once they reached the door.

"Mark did you call the doctor?" Michelle asked as she sat down on the couch.

"Yeah, and the cab will be here in a minute." Mark said sitting down next to her.

"What do we do now?" Roger asked nervously.

"The cab comes and then we go to the hospital and have a baby." Michelle said laughing before a contraction hit.

"Are you ok?" Mark said concerned.

"Fine." Michelle said after a minute. "It wouldn't be childbirth if it tickled."

"How are you so calm right now?" Mimi asked amazed. If she was in this situation she would be nervous and scared. But Michelle was as calm and serene as she had ever seen her.

"I get to meet my son soon." Michelle told her smiling with tears in her eyes.

"The cabs here." Collins said coming over from his spot at the window. Mark nodded and helped Michelle up. Roger grabbed the suitcase and followed them out the door along with Michelle.

"Aren't you coming?" Mimi asked Collins, standing up about to follow them.

"I'll stay here and let everyone else know what's going on." Collins said. "Hurry up or they're likely to leave without you."

"Ok, I guess we'll see you soon." Mimi said smiling and walking out the door. Collins smiled and sat back down on the couch.

"This is going to be interesting." Collins chuckled to himself as he pictured the madness that would surely be descending upon the waiting room soon enough.

A/N: Ok so I guess that was kind of a cliff hanger but I'm already at seven pages so I figured I'd split it up. I have no clue when I'll get the next chapter up. Maybe tonight maybe not. I know I suck at updates lately but I've been doing a lot lately and there hasn't really been much time. I'm going out of town on the 13th and won't be back till August 1st. So there won't be any updates during that time. I'll try to get as much updated as I can until then. Once again I'd like to thank everyone that has reviewed. You rock.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	18. The Promised Land

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I think that's been well established.

Collins sat in the waiting room with a smile on his face. He knew that it would be chaos. Roger and Jon were pacing back and forth, while Erica and Hanna would occasionally yell at them to sit down. Izzy was sitting next to Mimi with the girls. Mrs. Davis kept going up to the nurse's desk every five minutes to see if there was any news until Mr. Davis finally forced her to sit down. Maureen and Joanne were on the other side of the Davis'.

"How long is this going to take?" Jon asked sitting down next to Erica.

"Well it's been two hours already, it can't be much longer." Roger said sitting down between Izzy and Hanna. Izzy and Mrs. Davis laughed.

"Roger I was in labor with you for nearly twenty three hours." Mrs. Davis said laughing.

"You think Chelle is going to be in labor for that long?" Jon asked slightly horrified.

"That all depends. Some women have really long childbirths while others barely make it to the hospital." Izzy explained. "Though the first child is usually the longest."

"So basically we're probably going to be here awhile?" Jon asked.

"Yep." Izzy said smiling and resting her head against Roger's shoulder.

* * *

"He's beautiful." Michelle said smiling up at Mark with tears in her eyes.

"He is." Mark relied kissing her forehead and looking down at their son. "Hi Danny." He said smiling.

"You should probably go get everyone, lord knows they won't keep quiet much longer." Michelle said.

"I just want to enjoy the peace and quiet for a little longer." Mark said sitting down on the edge of the bed. They sat in silence for the next few minutes taking in the life they had just brought into the world, when a nurse came in.

"Would you like me to go get your family?" The nurse asked smiling at them.

"I'll go get them." Mark said sighing before kissing Michelle and standing up. "They can be difficult."

"I understand." The nurse said smiling as Mark walked out of the room. As soon as Mark walked into the waiting room everyone was out of their seats and in front of him before he could even blink.

"How's Michelle?" Erica asked.

"Both she and Danny are fine; I'm here to bring you back to the room." Mark said smiling as Mrs. Davis hugged.

"I'm so happy for the both of you." She said pulling back a smiling at him with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you." Mark said hugging her one last time before they started walking towards Michelle's room.

"Let me hold my nephew." Jon said walking over to the side of Michelle's bed.

"Settle down Jonathan." Mrs. Davis said laughing. "How are you feeling?" She asked as she bent down and kissed her daughters forehead.

"I'm a bit tired." Michelle said smiling.

"You should probably get some rest." Roger said hugging her. "We'll come back tomorrow and visit then."

"Yeah that's probably a good idea." Mark said. "I think we're about 10 people past the normal limit."

"We're a rather large family." Hanna said laughing.

"But you guys just got here." Michelle said sadly.

"Don't worry, we'll be here so much over the next few days that you'll wish we'd just leave you alone." Roger said laughing as he led most of the group out of the room but Hanna stayed behind.

"I think I'll stay just a little bit longer." Hanna said smiling as she picked up the baby. "He's so precious."

"We know." Michelle said smiling.

"Hanna me and Michelle have a favor to ask you." Mark said as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"What?" Hanna asked as she handed the baby back to Mark.

"We want you to be Danny's Godmother." Michelle said smiling at her best friend. Tears welled up in Hanna's eyes before she pulled Hanna into a big hug.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Hanna asked.

"Yes, though let's try not using the f word, between you, Jon, and Roger , Danny's first word will be fuck." Mark said laughing.

"Who's going to be the Godfather?" Hanna asked as she pulled back. There were alot of canidates for that job. Roger, Jon, and Collins would all make wonderful godfathers, well maybe not Jon.

"Roger." Mark said smiling. "Jon and Collins are next in line though."

"Just how many kids are you expecting Cohen?" Michelle asked with raised eyebrows.

"I think five sound nice, don't you?" Mark said smiling.

"You plan on carrying and giving birth to them?" Michelle asked with a straight face as Hanna burst out laughing.

"Well I think I'll let you guys work this out by yourselves." Hanna laughed as she stood up and hugged them both. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"So five is too much?" Mark asked leaning back on the bed.

"I think so." Michelle said laughing laying her head on his shoulder. "I think three is good."

"I guess I can handle only three." Mark said smiling down at her. Michelle smiled and leaned up to kiss him.

"You better." She said before settling back down and watching their son.

* * *

Roger, Jon, Hanna, and Maureen walked into a bar near the loft, they decided they wanted to have a drink to celebrate the new memeber of their family. Everyone else said that they were tired and went home. With four shots of their friend Jose lined in front of them.

"So who wants to make the toast?" Hanna asked laughing.

"I will." Jon said lifting up his shot glass. "To my precious little nephew Danny, may he be blessed with good looks like his handsome uncle Jon." Everyone laughed as they downed their shots only Jon could come up with a toast like that.

"Actually if he's lucky he'll take after me." Roger laughed as Hanna and Maureen swatted his arm.

"Hopefully he doesn't inherit either of your brains." Maureen said rolling her eyes. "I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back."

"Hey, why don't you guys find a table? I'll grab some beers and wait for Maureen to come back." Roger suggested, he had a feeling they were going to be there for a while. Hanna and Jon nodded and left to go find a table. He had just orderd four beers when someone knocked into him. He turned around to tell the person off but as soon as he turned around the words died on his lips.

"Roger?" Benny asked shocked. It had probably been about three years since he'd spoken to any of them.

"Benny." Roger said nodding.

"It's been a long time." Benny said.

"Yeah." They could both feel the awkwardness building between them. "So how have you been?"

"Um, good I guess." Benny said shrugging. "Allison and I divorced about a year ago."

"No fucking way?" Roger asked shocked.

"It wasn't working out, we're still friends." Benny said shrugging. "We were only hurting each other."

"Do you still work for her dad?" Roger asked, he couldn't really believe he was standing here having a civil conversation with Benny of all people.

"Hell no." Benny said laughing. "I quit a while ago, I work for this little indie lable now."

"Good for you Benny." Roger said sticking out his hand, Benny smiled slightly before shaking it.

"Well I should probably get going, it was good seeing you Roger." Benny said nodding.

"Yeah, you too." Roger said. "You should really stop by the loft sometime. There's been alot going on, it'd be good to catch up."

"You sure that everyone would want to see me?" Benny asked.

"I think it's about time we all let go of the grudges." Roger said smiling.

"I'll stop by then." Benny said before he turned to leave.

"What a fucking night." Roger said before sitting back down and taking a long swig of his beer.

A/N: Ok I'm so sorry that it's kind of a short chapter and it's been so long since I've updated. My life as usual has been really crazy these last few months and most of the time I'm lucky if I can just make through work and whatever melodrama is going on in my life that week. But I am going to try my best to get my stories updated quicker. I'm going to be moving this summer so I'm going to work really hard to get everything done before I move. I hope you like the chapter, it was fun to right. And I hope that you guys like that I'm bringing Benny back into the picture. Ok well I'm gonna go clean my room and try to get the next chapter of Time Flies and Over The Moon up.


	19. Glory Days

Disclaimer: Two and a half years later and shock of all shockers I still don't own anything!

In earlier years one wouldn't be surprised to walk into the loft and find ashtrays over flowing with cigarette butts, beer cans strewn haphazardly across the floor, and a random half empty bottle of Stoli beneath the coffee table. Today if someone were to walk into the loft the ashtrays would be replaced with piles of baby clothes, the beer cans with baby bottles, and the Stoli moved into a cabinet in the kitchen. In the six months that had passed since the newest addition was welcomed into their ragtag east village family, the changes that followed were often glaringly obvious and yet at other times so subtle that only the people who had been around years and years could really note the change. As Mark sat on the floor in the living room surround by years of film, he couldn't help but think about the different paths he and his friends had stumbled down.

Mark hadn't really had a chance to go through his old footage in what seemed like forever. Danny was quite a handful considering that his son was half Davis that really shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone. Mark smiled as he looked over at the door to Danny's room.

"What a difference two years makes." Standing up quietly made his way over to Danny's room, poking his head in to make sure he was still asleep. The phone shrill ring echoed in the loft, in a flash he was grabbed the phone.

"Hello?" Turning towards the baby's room he listened for a minute to make sure Danny hadn't woken up.

"How's my favorite skinny white albino?" Collins laughed. Mark rolled his eyes as he leaned back against the table.

"Really, that joke gets funnier every time I hear it," Marks voice dripped with sarcasm

"Somebody's cranky today," Collins made a poor attempt at hiding his laughter.

"Was there a point to this phone call or are you just calling to torture me?" Mark asked laughing. It wouldn't be the first call like that from Collins.

"I was just wondering if it was ok if I came by now instead of later," Collins explained. "I know everyone else isn't going to be there till later but I'm done with my classes for the day and didn't feel like sitting in my apartment grading papers."

"Since when do you ever need to call before coming over?" Mark asked.

"I didn't want to accidentally walk in on anything." Collins laughed and Mark wondered why he continued to hang out with him.

"Number one Michelle's in class till five, which I know you know, and number two it's two o'clock in the afternoon Collins." Mark rolled is eyes.

"It's called afternoon delight for a reason," Although Collins wasn't in the same room as Mark he knew his cheeks would be bright red by now.

"You really are an ass sometimes Collins." Mark shook his head. "Come over if you want, I'm going to hang up before you say anything else I don't want to talk about."

"I'll see you in twenty, Marky," Collins laughed as the line went dead. Mark went back to organizing his canisters of film. He was just about finished when the door slammed open to reveal Collins carrying a bag.

"Damn it Collins, you could have woken him up." Collins paused and after a minute of silence he began to laugh.

"He's related to Roger, Jon, and Michelle. He'd sleep through the apocalypse just like the rest of them," Collins laughed setting his bag down. "Besides doesn't he have to wake up soon anyway?"

"He just went down thirty minutes ago. And like you said he's like the other three, he'd sleep for twelve hours if you let him," Mark laughed sitting at the kitchen counter.

"So who's coming over tonight?" Collins asked pulling two beers from the bag, handing one to Mark.

"Roger, Izzy, the girls, Mimi, Maureen, Joanne, Benny and us," Mark popped the top off and took a swig. "You know the usual."

"Never thought I'd see Benny party of the group again."

"Yeah well I never thought I'd live to see the day Roger Davis defend our dear former landlord Benjamin Coffin III."

"You know I never thought I'd say this but I'm really glad you had your camera out that day," Collins was laughing so hard he was nearly crying.

_For the first time since they brought Danny home the loft had fewer than ten people in it. Mark was in one of the armchairs fiddling with his camera, while Roger and Maureen argued over what to watch._

"_Will you both shut up?" Collins finally snapped looking up from the pile of papers he was grading. _

"_If you two wake up the baby, Michelle's going to kill you and then I'm going to bring you back to life so I can kill you again," Mark said without glancing up form his camera._

"_Sorry," Maureen said rolling her eyes. "It's not my fault Roger's taste in television sucks."_

"_Just keep it down. If he wakes up, you two won't be the ones trying to get a screaming six month old back to bed," Mark turned the camera on the two of them._

"_Aww it's so cute when you go daddy Cohen on us," Maureen laughed. _

"_Thanks Mo," Mark said rolling his eyes. "Oh before I forget, Michelle wanted to know if everyone wanted to come over this weekend? She wants to cook for everyone."_

"_I don't see why not. It's not like we ever really go anywhere else," Collins said laughing. "Who are we talking about when we say everyone?"_

"_Well us, Izzy, the girls, Mimi and Joanne," Mark listed off. "Hanna can't come because of school and work, and Jon's still out of town."_

"_How's he doing?" Collins asked looking at Roger. _

"_Better I guess. He says being out of town is helping with clearing his head," Roger explained. "I mean when she first broke up with him, I think he was in shock, now I guess he's just angry." Jon and Erica had broken up six weeks before and it had been messy for everyone._

"_Well next time you talk to him tell him we can't wait to have him back," Maureen said. Though he annoyed her to no end sometimes, she still loved him like a brother._

"_I will," Roger nodded. "Um actually I wanted to run something else by you guys." _

"_What?" Collins asked._

"_Well I uh ran in to Benny a while back and I think we should invite him over this weekend," Roger mumbled. He didn't know why he was so nervous. Well that was a lie, he knew that while Mark and Collins might act like rational adults, Maureen was liable to fly off the handle like the drama queen she was. There was dead silence for a full two minutes before all hell broke loose._

"_BENNY!" Maureen was on her feet in a flash and screeching like a banshee. "Do you not remember all the shit he's put us through?"_

"_Be quiet Maureen," Mark snapped._

"_Do you not remember the hell he put us through?" Maureen seethed quietly. "He locked you guys out in the dead of winter!"_

"_Yes Mo I do remember," Roger said rolling his eyes. _

"_What about all the shit he put you and Mimi though?" Maureen's pacing back and forth was starting to where and his nerves._

"_Yes Maureen I remember all of that," He said once again rolling his eyes. "I probably remember it better than you do, seeing as it happened to me."_

"_And let's not forget all the means things he said to Mark!" Maureen exclaimed with her hands on her hips._

"_What mean things?" Mark asked confused._

"_Anytime we saw him he always had a joke to make about how I left you for a woman!" She half yelled half whispered. There was silence for a minute before Collins and Roger started cracking up. "What's so funny?"_

"_Mo, if you're gonna hate Benny for that one, you have to hate the rest of us," Collins chuckled. "I don't think there is one person in this group that didn't joke about it at least once. I mean that provided us amusement for months."_

"_Why am I friends with you people?" Mark asked more to himself._

"_For our wonderful sense of humor," Roger laughed._

"_Can we please get back on topic?" She asked. "Give me one good reason that I should give him another chance? When for how many years he lived to constantly put us through hell."_

"_Because I'm asking you to," Roger said quietly. "Or how about the fact that you forgave me for all the shit I've put you guys through thought out the years."_

"_Roger that was completely differently," Maureen yelled._

"_Maureen, will you lower your damn voice," Mark snapped furiously. _

"_Listen, I know Benny did a lot of shitty things over the years," Roger's voice got louder as he stood up. _

"_That's a completely different situation Roger!" She yelled. _

"_Will you two calm down?" Mark asked getting agitated. "If you wake up Michelle or Danny…" he didn't finish his sentence because the bedroom door flew open._

"_What the hell is going on out here?" Michelle asked irritated. _

"_Your brother has lost his mind," Maureen said as she grabbed her purse. "Call me when you've regained you sanity." And with that she stormed out of the loft. Roger sighed and sat back down on the couch._

"_What the hell was that about?" Michelle asked sitting down in Mark's lap._

"_Maureen being Maureen," Roger said rolling his. "So what do you think?" He asked looking at Mark and Collins._

"_If you think it's a good idea, why not?" Collins said Mark just nodded. "Of course Maureen's going to be on the war path for awhile."_

"_It wouldn't be the first time" Roger said laughing._

_End Flaschback_

"Well on the bright side, Maureen's been slightly more civil as of late," Mark said finishing his beer.

"And by civil you mean calling him Benny instead of yuppie scum," Collins stood up to put the rest of the beer in the fridge. "Honestly, if you would have told me that Roger would be the one to forgive Benny and welcome him back with open arms, I would have asked where to get the drugs your on."

"Aint that the truth," Mark laughed as Michelle came in. "Hey."

"Hey," She smiled as she set her things down and wrapped her arms around his neck. "How are my boys?"

"Good," He said kissing the tip of her nose. "Danny's been asleep for an hour and me and Collins were just talking."

"That sounds like more fun than I had this afternoon," Michelle said as she let go of Mark to grab a beer. "I forgot how much I really hate school."

"It can't be that bad." Collins said. "It's just hard getting back into the groove after you've taken some time off."

"Don't worry, you already have a bunch of the courses you need done," Mark said wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "You'll be done in no time."

"I know," Michelle sighed. "But enough talk about school. What time is everyone coming over?"

"I don't know, pretty much when everyone gets off," Mark rested his chin on her shoulder. "It's not like we ever make detailed plans. Pick a day and place and everyone will show up eventually."

"Well I think I'm going to go lay down before everyone gets here," Michelle got up and stretched. She kissed Mark quickly before heading towards Danny's room. "I'm going to check on Danny, wake me up before everyone gets here."

"Hey why don't you go lay down with Michelle, if Danny wakes up I'll watch him," Collins said after Mark let out a yawn.

"Are you sure?" He looked back and forth between Collins and the bedroom. "You don't have to, I'm not that tired."

"It's fine. Besides between Maureen and Hanna I never get one on one time with Danny," Collins grinned. "Go spend some time with your girlfriend."

"Ok," Mark said turning toward the door. "Wake us up if you need to."

"I'll knock twice before entering," Collins laughed as he headed toward the couch.

"You are such an ass sometimes Collins," Mark laughed as he made his way to his bedroom. Michelle was curled up on the bed already with the blankets pulled up to her chin. He quietly slid in behind her, wrapping his arms around her.

"What are you doing in here?" She asked, turning around.

"Just thought I'd spend a little time alone with you before everyone gets here," He said kissing her forehead. "Plus I'm a little tired from organizing all my footage."

"Oh my poor baby," She laughed and snuggled closer to him. She loved times like these, just her and Mark. She always felt so content when they were like this, like all the problems of the world slipped away, even if it was only for a few minutes. "I love you." She mumbled as she drifted to sleep.

"I love you too," He held her a little tighter and kissed the top of her head. He closed his eyes but he knew that he wasn't going to fall asleep. Although he was pretty tired, he knew the velvet box that was sitting in a box in the top of his closet would keep him up. He'd had the box since before Danny was born. His dad had called him, saying that they needed to talk. When they met for lunch they'd had a long discussion about where things were headed between Mark and Michelle. His dad had told him that he was proud of him, he couldn't be happier that Michelle and the baby were going to be part of his family.

When he saw his dad pull out the old velvet box he didn't know what to say, he'd recognized the box instantly. It was his grandmother's ring, the one that had taken his grandfather years to save for.

_He stared down at the table like an idiot for what seemed like an eternity before looking up at his father again. "Dad…"_

"_Listen I know you when your mother brought it up you said you wanted to wait," David Cohen smiled at his only son. "But there's no denying that the two of you are going to get married eventually whether it's a few weeks or a few years from now," he picked up the box and opened it. "I know you know what this ring meant to your grandparents."_

"_Yeah," Mark said staring at it._

"_You look at Michelle the same way your grandfather used to look at your grandmother and the way I look at your mother," he smiled again. "Your grandfather wanted you to have this when you met your Ida." _

"_Dad, I don't know what to say." _

"_Say that you'll take the ring and when the time is right you give it to the love of your life," his dad was grinning like an idiot as he shut the box and placed it in front of him. _

It wasn't that he didn't want to get married, dear god did he want to marry her. He just wanted everything to be absolutely perfect when he did. But nothing he could think of seemed worthy of her. Then there were the times that he had been about to ask her and he'd lose his nerve. He couldn't believe how stupid he was being he knew she'd say yes, he knew that she loved him just as much as he loved her and she wanted to be with him forever. But he just couldn't find the perfect moment. He sighed as he untangled himself from her he kissed her forehead one last time before walking over to the closet and getting the ring. It was times like this he was really glad Michelle could sleep though just about anything. He took one last glance at her before walking out to the living room.

"What are you doing up?" Collins asked from the couch as Mark shut the door.

"Couldn't sleep," he shrugged. "I'm going to check on Danny." he made his way over to the nursery and gently closed the door behind him. Danny was standing up in his crib smiling. "You're supposed to be asleep little man."

He picked him up and sat down on the floor. "Want to see something?" He dug into his pocket and pulled out the box. He gently took the ring out and pulled Danny into his lap.

"See this? This was you're great grandma Ida's ring." Danny tried grabbing the ring, but Mark gently pulled him closer. "And one day soon it's going to be your moms," he hugged Danny as he stood up. "You got any great romantic ideas on how to propose?" The baby laughed as the walked over to the dresser.

"Where's the ex yuppie scum?" Mark sighed as Maureen's voice floated in. He quickly shoved the ring into the dresser before heading out to the living room.

"Really Maureen what's it going to take for you to be nice to him?" Mark asked as he sat down next to Collins.

"Hell freezing over," she said as she reached for Danny, before anyone had a chance to respond the phone rang.

"We screen," Collins, Mark and Joanne said at the same time.

"Hey it's Hanna."

"Hey Hanna," Mark said picking up the phone.

"I was just wondering if it was ok if I stopped by later today," she said. "I had some errands to run so I'm close by."

"That's sounds great. Everyone is coming over tonight anyway."

"Great, I have a few more things to finish though, so I'll see you in a couple of hours."

"Ok see you then," Mark said as he hung up the phone.

* * *

Michelle was pulling the last of the pizza out of the oven when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her.

"It smells great," Mark said kissing her neck as she put it on the stovetop.

"Thank you," she smiled as she leaned up and kissed him.

"Benny and Hanna better hurry up and get here or we're eating without them," he said turning her around in his arms as he leaned back against the counter.

"I'm sure they'll be here soon," she leaned up to kiss him again. "I love you." She mumbled against his lips.

"Love you too," his arms tightened around her waist as he lifted her up, on of her hands wrapped around his neck while the other went into his hair.

"Oh come on," Roger sighed dramatically as he walked in the kitchen. "Can't you two do that when I'm nowhere near you?"

"Act like the thirty year old that you're supposed to be," Michelle said as she pulled away from Mark. "Besides it's my house and I'll do whatever the hell I want."

"Oh baby I love it when you get feisty," Mark said wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back to him.

"Oh dear god, I'm going to need therapy," Roger shuddered as he grabbed his beer and hurried out of the kitchen.

"That was mean," She giggled.

"No it wasn't, that was payback," she turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Do you know how many times I walked in on him and whatever girl doing a lot worse?"

"That's really not an image I wanted in my head," she closed her eyes in disgust.

"Sorry but it's true," he laughed. "Come on let's get back out there before Roger starts having a conniption fit," he led her to the couch and pulled her down into his lap.

"Keep your hands where I can see them Cohen," Roger said as he leaned back in his chair, laughing when Mark flipped him off. Roger smiled as he looked around the loft, Maureen and Mimi were on the floor playing with the kids while Collins, Izzy, and Joanne sat at the table talking. His life was pretty damn fantastic, he was in love, he had two daughters, and his family was just as happy as he was, life couldn't get much better then this.

* * *

Benny stood on the sidewalk, arguing with his boss over something that didn't even make sense to him, when he saw her, probably the most beautiful woman he had seen in a while. Playing with her purse strap, she began climbing the stairs leading to the door of the building on Ave A. Benny quickly rushed up the stairs and opened the door for the beauty. He gave her a crooked smile as she gently brushed passed him to enter the building.

"Thanks," she said smiling as she entered the building. Hanna smiled as she started up the stairs towards the loft. She was beginning the think she had the worst luck with men, but hey the cutie downstairs smiled at her, maybe hope wasn't lost after all. She was at the second floor when she noticed the footsteps behind her; she quickly glanced back and realized it was the guy from downstairs. That's creepy, she thought maybe her luck hadn't changed. When she got to the door she went to pull it open but it wouldn't open.

"Of course," She muttered as she began knocking incessantly. She heard the guy walking up the last few steps.

"Listen asshole, my brothers about to open that door and believe me he'll kick ass first and ask questions later," she said as she whipped around. He opened his mouth but before he could get anything the door opened.

"Oh good, you're both here," Roger grinned as he opened up the door all the way. "Hurry up and get inside, we've been waiting to eat and we're all starved."

"Wait you know him?" She asked looking back and forth between Roger and Benny.

"Yeah," Roger said slowly, "I've known Benny for years, you know that."

"He's Benny?" Oh way to sound stupid, she thought to herself.

"I think that's been established, so are you coming in?" What the hell was going on with her?

"Excuse me," Benny said as he brushed passed the two.

"Great job Hanna, make yourself look insane in front of the hot guy," Hanna muttered to herself as she brushed passed Roger. It took a second for what she said to down on Roger.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me," He muttered as shut the door. "You really do hate me don't you?" He asked looking up at the ceiling.

"Roger, are you ok?" Izzy asked.

"I'm fine," he said as he walked over to her. "Just contemplating what I did that pissed off the universe," Izzy stared up at him confused. "It's nothing. Let's go eat," he said as he wrapped an arm around her waist and led her towards everyone else.

A/N: I know it's an actual chapter not just an authors note!!!! I'm really sorry about the length of time between chapters, between my family, friends and working two jobs I haven't had a lot of time to write. I'm not going to say when I'm going to have the next chapter out, because we all know that I suck when I try to make deadlines for myself. So I'll just say that I'm about to start working on the next chapter and I hope that I'll get it out soon. Thank you all for sticking with this story! And I am planning on updating Time Flies but I can't seem to write anything for it. Hopefully the next update will be soon. I really have to thank Renthead621 and Youngboho. You all know by now that Renthead 621 has been my partner in crime since day one and if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have gotten this far. Also if she hadn't been hounding me to update it would have been another couple of months before I updated. And Youngboho has been a super awesome beta! You've been a big help while I'm trying to get back in the swing of writting again. So big thanks to those two. That's all for now, can't wait to hear what everyone thinks of the chapter, remember to review!

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	20. Near Wild Heaven

A/N: Still don't own a thing.

Mark focused the camera on Michelle and Hanna who were laughing by the window. He loved her laugh, it was bubbly and infectious which suited her personality perfectly. It was in that moment he realized the important thing wasn't a perfect proposal, it was being happy and in love and living life in this moment. He finally understood that in his mind the proposal would always be perfect as long as she said yes. A wave of calmness passed over him as he lowered the camera.

"And what's the cause of that grin?" Joanne smiled at him as she took the camera out of his hands. She had a pretty good idea of what the cause of the grin was. She was elated that he had finally found happiness. She almost felt guilty sometimes being in love and happy while poor Mark sat on the sidelines. He'd always been so wrapped up helping the others in their group that most of the time her forgot about himself in the process. But with Michelle he was finally getting that happiness.

"I'm just really happy with everything in my life."

"Would that have anything to do with a certain Davis?" Mark opened his mouth to respond when someone knocked into him from behind.

"On Mark they've discovered our secret!" Roger laughed and Mark couldn't help but roll his eyes at his nut job of a best friend. He tended to act a little on the immature side when he had a few drinks in him. Joanne was giggling and Collins and Mimi who were standing by the three were almost in tears.

"You know that would explain why they act like an old married couple." Mimi choked out in between peels of laughter. She and Collins were holding each other up as they continued to laugh. Mark rolled his eyes and shoved Roger away from him. Roger stumbled into the armchair.

"You're a nut job, Roger." Mark felt Michelle come up behind him and wrap her arms around him.

"What's so funny?" She asked resting her chin on his shoulder. She was slightly nervous when she asked that question. With this group you were never sure if you wanted to know the answer.

"Mark and Roger's secret love affair." Collins said as he and Mimi collapsed on the ground in a fit of laughter. Michelle looked at Mark with a raised eyebrow.

"Your brother is slightly drunk and an idiot." He turned around and smiled as he wrapped her in his arms. He smiled as she leaned up to kiss him, as soon as their lips touched he felt something soft hit the back of his head.

"I told you not to make out with my sister while I'm in the same room!" Roger knew that either one of the girls or Mark was going to end up smacking him but he didn't care. He figured that Mark was pretty much family and that's the price he had to pay for dating his sister. He cringed as Michelle went to pull out of Mark's arms. He had a feeling he'd be nursing a bruise in the morning.

"Sometimes I really want to strangle you." She huffed as Mark pulled her back to him. Mark whispered something in her ear that caused her to look at Roger then break out in a fit of giggles.

"Secrets don't make friends." He rolled his eyes as Mark and Michelle continued to laugh. Roger feigned annoyance as he scanned the room he saw Benny and Hanna talking quietly by the window. He had to hold back a smirk, he had already annoyed Michelle it wouldn't be fair if he didn't equally annoy Hanna. "Well I can tell when I'm not wanted, I'll just go somewhere I'm wanted."

* * *

Hanna took another sip of her drink as she stared out the window. She was hoping that by next week she would find an apartment. She hadn't told anyone yet but she had applied at NYU last semester and had been accepted. She was going to tell everyone about it after she found an apartment. She knew that Roger and Michelle would have let her stay with one of them , but she wanted to live on her own and feel like an adult. She'd looked at a few today that she really liked and could afford. She'd also found a job with an advertising firm, granted all she was going to do was get coffee and file paperwork but it paid well and fit in with her school schedule. A throat clearing startled he, pulling her out of her thoughts. She whirled around and came face to face with Benny.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." He grinned sheepishly

"Oh it's fine." She smiled what she hoped was a flirty smile.

"We didn't get a chance to be properly introduced earlier." He smiled a mega watt smile as he held his hand out to her. "Benny Coffin."

"Hanna Penzone." He squeezed her hand lightly before letting go. She felt her cheeks heat and thanked god that no one could tell when she blushed.

"Ho how did a pretty girl like you end up mixed up with those crazy Davis kids?" He smiled when she let out a small laugh. He never had any trouble when it came to women. He had always been able to ooze charm and confidence. But what he recently realized was that he didn't want to charm and sweet talk anymore. He wanted someone who saw him, for who he was, not who he tried to be. That was one of the many problems with his marriage to Allison. She wanted the man he had tried to build himself up to be, but wasn't happy with the man he was when he failed. He knew that he was probably playing with fire flirting with Hanna, he knew how Roger could be when it came to his sisters but he wasn't going to hold himself back anymore. There was a connection that he felt with Hanna earlier and he wasn't going to let himself miss a chance to connect with someone.

"I've lived next to them my whole life. Michelle and Jon have been my best friends since I was in diapers. You become immune to the craziness by age six." Benny couldn't help but laugh when she said that. He had lived with Roger for two years and didn't ever get used to his antics, though that might have had something to do with Collins influence. He couldn't help but smile as she told him stories of her childhood in Queens. The way she talked with her hands was charming to him. There was nothing fake or catty about her. She was the way she was and she didn't change for anyone. Benny couldn't help but find that very attractive. Over the course of their conversation he found out that she was an only child, she loved old movies especially ones staring Paul Newman and Marlon Brando, and she'd read more books in a month than he read in a year.

"That's why I think the movie did live up to the book." She was explaining to him what she though of a recent movie that had been adapted from her favorite book. "At the very least you should go see the movie. But I guarantee that you'll want to read the book once you see it." Benny was about to ask her if she'd want to go with him to see it when he saw Roger walking over to them.

"And what are you guys talking about?" Roger asked bumping his shoulder into Hanna's and laughing when she glared at him. It was a good thing that looks couldn't kill because he was pretty sure the look she sent him would have killed him on the spot if it was.

"I was telling Benny about this movie I saw last week." Hanna explained as she silently willed Roger to go away. There was something about the way he would just randomly pop up when she was talking to a guy that really made her believe that he had a sixth sense when it came to his sisters. "It's an art house flick, you wouldn't be interested."

"I'm insulted, do I look like I don't enjoy art house films?"

"I know for a fact you don't." Collins said as he joined the group. He figured he'd save Roger from the beating Hanna was going to give him for interrupting her and Benny. He could spot their flirting from down the street, that's how obvious they were. Unfortunately so could Roger and Roger being Roger thought it would be a good idea to come over and bother them. Thankfully Benny wasn't going to have the same problems Mark had. They were all glad he had gotten past the issues he had. "You know the only reason Mark ever got you to see those movies was the promise of him paying for all your snack food. And once you were done with your food you would pass out."

"Why did Mark keep going with him then? Why not just find something else?" She asked. Benny moved closer to her placing hand on her lower back before explaining.

"Because back then Collins was finishing up with school so he never had the time, I was working fifty hours a week at the Westport Group, and Maureen's attention span wouldn't last through the movie. Roger was the only who could go with him." Benny and Collins laughed as Roger huffed and rolled his eyes. Benny's smile grew when Hanna leaned in closer to him. Roger noticed their movements and felt an intense urge to separate the two of them.

"Are you avoiding me, baby?" Izzy appeared seemingly out of nowhere. When Roger turned to face her she smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist. She had been talking to Maureen and watching the girls play with Danny when she saw Roger walk over to Benny and Hanna. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that there was an attraction between the two of them. Even though she knew that Roger wouldn't react like he did with Mark and Michelle she also knew that he could be a bit of a trouble maker. She decided that she needed to get Roger before Hanna murdered the love of her life.

"Of course not." His arms wrapped around her waist pulling her closer to him and kissing the tip of her nose. "Just talking to these three."

"Well why don't you come sit with the girls and I. It feels like we haven't seen you all night." She watched as he looked back at Benny and Hanna before looking back down at her. She raised and eyebrow at him silently daring him to stay and torture them. He would be enjoying the couch for a few days if he did.

"Sure." He wasn't stupid; he knew that if he tried giving the two of them a hard time he'd have to endure the wrath of Izzy. And that was something he tried to avoid whenever possible.

"Izzy is a God send." Hanna said as she watched the two walk away.

"She does seem to be able to control him when need be." Benny smiled looking at the couple in question they really worked well together. And anyone who could live with Roger Davis deserved to be a saint.

"I think I hear a bottle of Stoli calling my name." They both laughed as Collins headed off towards the kitchen. Benny turned towards Hanna, reaching out to tuck a curl behind her ear.

"So about that movie, think it's good enough to see again?" He held his breath as he waited for her to answer.

"I think that could be arranged." The smile she gave him took his breath away. He had a feeling this might turn out wonderfully.

* * *

Lucia was curled up in Roger's lap sleeping oblivious to everything going on around her. The remaining bohos had taken up residence in the living room. Hanna had left an hour ago saying she needed to get back to Queens. Benny followed suit fifteen minutes later claiming that he had work to finish at home, not that anyone really bought that excuse. Joanne and Maureen had left a few minutes before to go home and pack because they were leaving the next morning to go visit Joanne's parents in D.C. Mark and Michelle were curled up on one end of the couch, Danny sleeping peacefully on Marks lap. Mark smiled as he watched Toni playing with Mimi trying to fight off her sleepiness. Twirling a strand of Michelle's hair he dropped a kiss on the top of her head. She smiled up at him kissing him quickly before standing up.

"I think someone's ready to go to bed." She gently picked Danny up cradling him to her shoulder. Mark nodded as he stood up and followed her into Danny's room. He watched as she gently set the baby down and covered him with the blanket. Mark kissed the side of her head as they stood there silently watching their son sleep. This was the moment he'd been waiting for. He slowly pulled away from her making his way over to the drawer where he had stashed the ring earlier that evening. He walked back to her holding the black velvet case behind his back, he had to smile at the slightly confused look on her face. He took her left hand in his kissing it softly before getting down on one knee. Her eyes grew wide as she let out a gasp.

"I love you. It's as simple as that. I want nothing more than to be able to call you my wife for the rest of my life." He smiled up at her as he pulled the box out from behind his back and opened it. "Michelle Davis would you give me the incredible honor of calling myself your husband?"

"Yes." He slid the ring onto her finger kissing it once before standing up and gently copping her face.

"I love you so much." He murmured before kidding her. The happiness felt like it was going to burst from his chest, he pulled her closer and continued to kiss her.

"I love you too." She said pulling away resting her forehead against his. "So much."

A/N: I know it's been an insanely long time since I've updated but once again my life has been insane so writing was once again put on the backburner. This story is only has a few more chapters left and although I have the rest of the story planned out I have no clue how long it will be until the next chapter is up. I will work on it as much as I can but I have so little time for myself lately that it's hard to get anything done. But I will do my best to get it done as fast as I can. Please let me know what you think of this chapter I love hearing what you guys think.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


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